[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The event ” Sumando miradas por la ciencia ciudadana marina ” organized by Observadores del Mar and RedPromar has been a success and opens the way for citizen science to be a support tool for marine biodiversity monitoring programs at the national level.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
From Observadores del Mar of the CSIC and the RedPROMAR of the Government of the Canary Islands, both marine citizen science platforms, we have established an <\/span>alliance<\/b> to continue promoting, collaboratively, marine citizen science for the <\/span>monitoring, knowledge and conservation of marine biodiversity.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n On November 7th and 8th, the event took place in Lanzarote to divulge this alliance and establish the framework for national collaboration. The meeting brought together representatives of state, regional and municipal public administrations, research centers from all over the territory, entities and citizens. The common goal: <\/span>to make citizen science useful for marine conservation.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Pura Fern\u00e1ndez<\/b> \u2014CSIC Deputy Vice President of Scientific Literacy and Citizen Science\u2014 stressed that \u201cthe creation of this alliance corroborates the essential collaborative, cooperative and supportive nature of science, which must always be for citizens, who are essential to grow and get stronger.\u201d Words that strengthen the commitment to marine citizen science in research.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The event continued with a local look by historian Mario Ferrer, followed by Emilio Soler (OC-HABs) who spoke about harmful algae, providing a microscopic look at the marine environment. Adolfo Marco \u2014researcher at the EBD-CSIC\u2014 highlighted the increase in turtle nesting on the Spanish coast, and the importance of training citizens to report sightings of adult turtles (healthy or injured) or nests.<\/span><\/p>\n Next, a round table of experiences took place in which the connection that citizen science has between many sectors of society was made visible. Boris Weitzmann (CMAS) and Marina Mu\u00f1oz (Buceo Norte) agreed that “important discoveries can be made in leisure dives”; Ana Liria (ADS Biodiversidad) and Claudio Barria (CatSharks) \u2014both researchers\u2014 presented examples of new findings thanks to the data provided by the public. The data from Dennis Rabeling (citizen scientists and EuroDivers Lanzarote) who has so far reported 836 species was surprising.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joaquim Garrabou \u2014researcher at the ICM-CSIC and general coordinator of Observadores del Mar\u2014 and Olga Ayza \u2014technician from the Biodiversity Service of the Government of the Canary Islands and coordinator of RedPROMAR\u2014 highlighted<\/span><\/p>\n the value of the alliance between the two marine citizen science platforms to promote this discipline as a support for monitoring programs of marine biodiversity at the national level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Marine citizen science can boost protected species monitoring programs\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n