The French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), in collaboration with Costa Rica’s Fundación MarViva, the Sargasso Sea Commission and the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB), have announced the launch of a new project to protect and manage remarkable areas of the high seas, namely the Costa Rica Thermal Dome and the Sargasso Sea.  The project is to be referred to as SARGADOM.

The objective of the SARGADOM project is to develop and test methodologies to assess needs and means for conservation strategies in the high seas with the Thermal Dome (East Central Pacific) and the Sargasso Sea as research fields.  The results will contribute to BBNJ negotiation and implementation by providing lessons learns on integrated socio-ecological assessment and hybrid governance for high seas conservation consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements, as part of a strategy based on an ecosystem approach.

Many of the achievements of the GOBI-supported work on the Costa Rica Thermal Dome are of direct relevance to the SARGADOM project and will be instrumental in its implementation.  It is one of several nascent projects that are benefiting from and building upon the work carried out under GOBI’s ongoing IKI-funded research activities.  The GOBI Coordinator, Prof. David Johnson, is on the Advisory Board of SARGADOM, enabling and assisting the continuity of purpose and best use of the achievements so far by work under the GOBI steerage.

Further information on the SARGADOM project can be found here.