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Countries join forces against sargassum
They agree to work on the creation of a "governance mechanism" that will be responsible for addressing the issue from a regional point of view
Mexico and 12 countries of Central America and the Caribbean agreed to integrate efforts to combat the arrival of sargassum to its coasts at the conclusion of a high-level meeting on Thursday in Cancun, a beach resort in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
During the sargasso summit, the 13 countries announced an ambitious program of regional cooperation on environmental protection that will be based on the creation of protocols and the exchange of information through an internet portal.
In a statement where they listed 26 agreements and proposals, they established a work plan that will culminate with a meeting next October in Guadalupe, a Caribbean island that is French territory.
They agreed to work on the creation of a "governance mechanism" that will take care of the sargasso issue from a regional point of view.
The countries will take the issue of sargassum to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) with the aim of seeking international policies on this matter.
Read also: Invasion of sargassum to Caribbean beaches would increase this 2019
The problem of sargassum is due to the lack of information, the ignorance of the phenomenon and the myths and gaps that hinder the attention of the problem, said US researchers James S. Franks and Donald Johnson. from the University of Southern Mississippi, in a pre-closing conference.
Johnson said there are many unanswered questions and even frustration among the scientific community about the magnitude of the problem in the Caribbean region; "It's a big stain that grows exponentially, with a cyclical pattern that repeats every two years, with greater intensity," he said.
Franks explained that the sargassum that affects the region comes from Africa and not from Brazil, as was initially thought, and although marine currents cause higher concentrations in the Caribbean, it still affects continents such as Europe and Asia.
"There are characteristics of sargassum that are a true mystery for science, it is an asexual organism that by just dividing it allows it to form a new and enormous mass that has the capacity to double its size in a few days," he said.
"There are countries that know a lot and others, nothing"
Alejandra Navarrete, international legal adviser to Ocean Foundation, said that the meeting in Cancún will allow standardizing criteria and sharing information.
"There are very advanced countries, for example Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Martinique, which has a very advanced geographic information system on tracking sargassum, but there are others that have nothing," he said.
The hydrobiologist Esteban Amaro, from the Monitoring Network of Sargazo Cancun, considered that it is time for the Caribbean region to address the problem of sargassum in a more real and effective way. "It must be taken in its just dimension and its just dimension is that it is a titanic problem," he said.
The specialist asked the affected countries to address the problem in a timely manner and not only from the tourism perspective, since it considers that the environmental effects are more serious than initially thought.
Read also: Fertilizers, dishes, sink ... Sargassum solutions in the Caribbean
"We are damaging mangroves, coastal dunes, forests, we are damaging aquifers and all this has a tremendous ecological cost," the Mexican expert warned.
"There are characteristics of sargassum that are a true mystery for science, it is an asexual organism that by just dividing it allows it to form a new and enormous mass that has the capacity to double its size in a few days"
Donald Johnson, researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi
During the sargasso summit, the 13 countries announced an ambitious program of regional cooperation on environmental protection that will be based on the creation of protocols and the exchange of information through an internet portal.
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...ses-unen-fuerzas-contra-el-sargazo-DB13219802
Countries join forces against sargassum
They agree to work on the creation of a "governance mechanism" that will be responsible for addressing the issue from a regional point of view
Mexico and 12 countries of Central America and the Caribbean agreed to integrate efforts to combat the arrival of sargassum to its coasts at the conclusion of a high-level meeting on Thursday in Cancun, a beach resort in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
During the sargasso summit, the 13 countries announced an ambitious program of regional cooperation on environmental protection that will be based on the creation of protocols and the exchange of information through an internet portal.
In a statement where they listed 26 agreements and proposals, they established a work plan that will culminate with a meeting next October in Guadalupe, a Caribbean island that is French territory.
They agreed to work on the creation of a "governance mechanism" that will take care of the sargasso issue from a regional point of view.
The countries will take the issue of sargassum to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) with the aim of seeking international policies on this matter.
Read also: Invasion of sargassum to Caribbean beaches would increase this 2019
The problem of sargassum is due to the lack of information, the ignorance of the phenomenon and the myths and gaps that hinder the attention of the problem, said US researchers James S. Franks and Donald Johnson. from the University of Southern Mississippi, in a pre-closing conference.
Johnson said there are many unanswered questions and even frustration among the scientific community about the magnitude of the problem in the Caribbean region; "It's a big stain that grows exponentially, with a cyclical pattern that repeats every two years, with greater intensity," he said.
Franks explained that the sargassum that affects the region comes from Africa and not from Brazil, as was initially thought, and although marine currents cause higher concentrations in the Caribbean, it still affects continents such as Europe and Asia.
"There are characteristics of sargassum that are a true mystery for science, it is an asexual organism that by just dividing it allows it to form a new and enormous mass that has the capacity to double its size in a few days," he said.
"There are countries that know a lot and others, nothing"
Alejandra Navarrete, international legal adviser to Ocean Foundation, said that the meeting in Cancún will allow standardizing criteria and sharing information.
"There are very advanced countries, for example Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Martinique, which has a very advanced geographic information system on tracking sargassum, but there are others that have nothing," he said.
The hydrobiologist Esteban Amaro, from the Monitoring Network of Sargazo Cancun, considered that it is time for the Caribbean region to address the problem of sargassum in a more real and effective way. "It must be taken in its just dimension and its just dimension is that it is a titanic problem," he said.
The specialist asked the affected countries to address the problem in a timely manner and not only from the tourism perspective, since it considers that the environmental effects are more serious than initially thought.
Read also: Fertilizers, dishes, sink ... Sargassum solutions in the Caribbean
"We are damaging mangroves, coastal dunes, forests, we are damaging aquifers and all this has a tremendous ecological cost," the Mexican expert warned.
"There are characteristics of sargassum that are a true mystery for science, it is an asexual organism that by just dividing it allows it to form a new and enormous mass that has the capacity to double its size in a few days"
Donald Johnson, researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi
During the sargasso summit, the 13 countries announced an ambitious program of regional cooperation on environmental protection that will be based on the creation of protocols and the exchange of information through an internet portal.
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...ses-unen-fuerzas-contra-el-sargazo-DB13219802