2017-11-13 (IPMA)
No âmbito das Palestras promovidas pelo Conselho Científico do IPMA, informamos que no dia 14 de novembro de 2017 (3a. feira) pelas 14:30 horas, no Departamento do Mar do IPMA, em Algés, o Prof. Robert Brock, da Universidade de Massachusetts, School for the Environment, irá apresentar a palestra intitulada "Marine Spatial Planning in Vietnam: the Personal and Professional Tales of a United States Embassy Science Fellow", da qual se junta o resumo.
Robert J. Brock, Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, Massachusetts (USA) and Fulbright Scholar, Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Lisboa, Portugal
The Embassy Science Fellows Program (ESFP) provides U.S. embassies across the world access to the expertise of U.S. Government personnel in science and technology fields. In 2016, as a Marine Biologist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), I served as a ESF to the Embassy of the United States in Hanoi, Vietnam. Why Vietnam? Vietnam, with a coastline of over 3,260 kilometres (km) and more than 3,000 islands and islets scattered offshore, plus up to 2,860 rivers and estuaries, is a major exporter of seafood to the United States and the European Union, ranking in the top ten exporters worldwide. Seafood is also the third largest export of the country, making its sustainable management crucial to Vietnam's economy, coastal ecosystems, coastal community livelihoods, and food security worldwide. With future rapid changes envisioned in Vietnam’s coastal port construction, aquaculture operations, stakeholder conflicts and land use, it was important for the country to develop integrated coastal and marine spatial plans (CMSP) that clearly identifies coastal and marine resources, existing and planned human activities, and highlights important information gaps that exist before construction and extraction outpaces sustainable ecosystem protections. Improving the management of coastal resources from one focused on short-term increases of production and catch volumes to one of improved management of coastal and marine resources is a new paradigm shift for the country. With funding from the World Bank, eight provinces were selected as pilot projects to work towards necessary environmental protection and a sustainable future for the marine sector. Culturally, it appeared to be quite challenging at times to the Vietnamese to envision how CMSP can be put into practical use now and into the future. This presentation will highlight some of the cultural and professional challenges and successes in Vietnam’s quest to balance rapid economic growth with sustainable marine sector activities.