The Foundation worked with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to inform marine spatial planning in Fiji, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands using data collected on the Global Reef Expedition. IUCN’s Oceania Regional Office worked with countries to implement marine spatial planning as part of their Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Island Countries (MACBIO) project. The Foundation shared all of the data we collected during the GRE in these countries. Our research helped to fill critical gaps in knowledge in these remote areas that were integrated into MACBIO’s South Pacific marine spatial planning processes.
Meet IFAN: Helping Bring Navigate with Care to the Next Generation
If you’ve ever seen a lighthouse flashing from the shore or a brightly colored buoy bobbing in the water, you’ve seen Aids to Navigation at work.
Aids to Navigation, often called AtoNs, help mariners navigate safely. They can mark channels, warn of hazards, help vessels determine their position, and provide other information people need to make safe decisions on the water. Around the world, these systems help guide everything from small recreational boats to large commercial or container ships.
But safe navigation isn’t only about protecting vessels and the people aboard them. The choices mariners make can also affect the animals and ecosystems beneath and around them.
That connection between maritime safety and ocean conservation is at the heart of this year’s Science Without Borders® Challenge—and of our partnership with this year’s theme sponsor, the International Foundation for Aids to Navigation (IFAN).
