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SOLUTIONS FOR THE OCEAN / NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS | 49

INNOVATION
Technological innovation

for the ocean’s benefit

The final panel of the afternoon took place at the Monaco Scientific
Centre. Coordinated by the MERI Foundation, it brought together

4 world experts with the focus on technological innovation for the
entire benefit of ocean-based solutions and marine ecosystem services.

URGENCY TO FOCUS USING BIOACOUSTICS
ON NATURE
Other initiatives are emerging, such as those guided
Building on the data of the IPCC’s sixth report, Ger- by bioacoustics, a science able to diagnose an eco-
man climatologist Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-President of system’s state of health. Providing a snapshot of the
the task force for this report, points out the extent current situation, bioacoustician Michel André, Director
to which the ocean environment is being impacted of the Laboratory of bioacoustic applications in Barce-
by changes of unknown scale and the devastating lona, moreover showed the negative impact of sound
consequences. In this critical context resulting from pollution on communication between marine species.
climate inaction, “Nature-based Solutions” seem to
be a necessary way out for planetary health. They “Ocean preservation depends on a precious equili-
have the benefit of no longer dissociating initiatives to brium”, adds the marine biologist Sonia Español-Ji-
promote the climate and biodiversity, and of triggering ménez, who presented the initiative Blue BOAT .
5
long-term change. Sponsored by Chile’s Ministry of the Environment and
developed in cooperation with the MERI Foundation,
of which she is the Executive Director, this innova-
A RANGE OF BLUE SOLUTIONS tive acoustic and oceanographic surveillance system
designed for vessels, aims to conserve and protect
Among the urgent measures recommended by the whales, whilst monitoring the ocean and developing
climate task force, formalised in 2016 by the Inter- marine ecosystem services, in particular those relating
national Union for the Conservation of Nature, Na- to the role of whales in carbon sequestration, and the-
ture-based Solutions are growing, especially with re- refore in climate change mitigation.
gard to the restoration of marine ecosystems. These
solutions, explains Nathalie Hilmi, economist at the 5. Buoy Oceanographic Alert Technology.
Monaco Scientific Centre, involve various players and
different sectors: blue carbon sequestration thanks to ■ 93%: the excess terrestrial heat
the regeneration of underwater and coastal vegeta- absorbed by the ocean, (source: IPCC)
tion, restoration of marshes and mangroves, among IN
the most endangered habitats on the planet (particu- FIGURES ■ 1 to 2%: the global annual rate of
decline of mangrove coverage.
larly due to aquaculture and prawn farms)… (source: “Getting the shrimp’s share.
Mangrove deforestation and shrimp
consumption, assessment and
alternatives”, IDDRI, 2019)