UNESCO Chairs documenting rich biodiversity and mapping ocean floor

“The ocean regulates the weather around the globe and it gives us many of the essential goods our daily lives depend on”, explains Prof Laura Guimarães.

UNESCO is leading the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which recently marked its 4th International Conference. As key knowledge partners, UNESCO Chairs are expanding our understanding of the ocean by documenting its rich biodiversity and mapping the ocean floor. They are also major advocates for more sustainable management of - and better education on – the “blue continent”. 

“The ocean is sick. And the ocean is sick because society is sick,” states Prof Alexander Turra, Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair for Ocean Sustainability (Brazil). “It is a symptom of the unsustainable way society is living, a symptom of the entropy of the social-ecological system. But the ocean is also our partner in changing this reality and moving toward forward.” For Prof. Ponnumony Vethamony who leads the UNESCO Chair in Marine Sciences (Qatar), whilst there are multiple challenges facing the ocean including biodiversity loss and pollution, he identifies the most important issue as “undoubtedly climate change, not only in the big ocean but also in the marginal seas.” He currently works in the Persian Gulf but has previously worked in the Arabian Sea the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, and is concerned about the trend of the past 40 years of increased sea surface temperatures and rising sea levels. 

“The ocean regulates the weather around the globe and it gives us many of the essential goods our daily lives depend on”, explains Prof Laura Guimarães. “Food, the oxygen we breathe every day, new medicines, leisure activities, spiritual wellbeing… so a healthy ocean means healthier humans, more food on our tables, more jobs and a healthier economy,”. As UNESCO Chair on Ocean Expert - Science Education of Children for Ocean Stewardship: in Support of the Sustainable Ocean Economy (Portugal), she is also an active contributor to UNESCO’s work on ocean science. This work is particularly crucial during the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development,   which UNESCO is leading, and which recently marked its 4th International Conference. The 1,500 participants contributed to defining the international ocean roadmap for the next five years, including on critical issues such as climate and marine biodiversity, natural hazards, pollution and sustainable blue food and nutrition.A dialogue bridge across the oceanAs a member of the Advisory Board for the Ocean Decade for 2024-25, Professor Turra says that overcoming political barriers to establish direct dialogue with society, students, teachers, researchers, companies and non-governmental organizations is something that he is keen to intensify. He argues that because of this transversal relationship of the ocean with the rest of the Sustainable Development Agenda, we need to adopt scientific approaches that are transdisciplinary and bridge dialogue between scientists and society. So convinced is he that he challenges his students on what they think his favourite SDG is. No - it is not SDG 14 on life underwater but SDG17 on partnerships. 

This is not just rhetoric for Professor Turra, he is proud that he is building the UNESCO Chair with his students in a heuristic or co-design process in line with the principles of the Chair, the principles that UNESCO safeguards. He actively encourages his students to become involved in participatory policy-making processes across the State of São Paulo, where the university is based, “as a way of building the legacy of the UNESCO Chair and the legacy of the Ocean, not only in Brazil but around the world.”

The UNESCO Chair on Ocean Sustainability also works with local communities to develop knowledge. For example, the UNESCO Chair recently published an assessment of the coastal and marine area of Brazil and one chapter was written by representatives of the Indigenous community. In this assessment, the authors realized that there was a strong alignment between what the scientists and traditional leaders understanding, reporting and recommending. “Although it's not a formal scientific knowledge, it is highly valuable,” says Prof Turra. “There is great meaning in being a people of the sea, to have a relationship with the ocean that needs to be understood and replicated in other locations, so that we create a more harmonic relationship between society and the ocean. They have a lot of lessons that we can learn.”

Partnerships are also key for the work of the UNESCO Chair in Marine Sciences. Prof. Vethamony and his colleagues in the UNESCO Chair team are closely monitoring the pollution in the Arabian Gulf, particularly related to oil, effluents from industries and microplastics, as well as long-lasting effects of the major oil spill (6.3 million barrels) during the 1991 Gulf War, in which residues of the spill are still present as “tar mats” that continue to affect the flora and fauna. Other issues specific to the Arabian Gulf is the effect of marine and coastal developments on pearl oyster harvesting, which is part of the intangible cultural heritage of the region, as well as a regional meteorological phenomenon known as “shamal winds”, whose impacts on oceanic currents, waves and marine nutrition have widespread consequences.

Prof. Vethamony and his team are working in partnership with the private sector on various projects to restore coastal and marine habitats in the Persian Gulf, particularly mangroves and coral reef ecosystems, which have been damaged largely as a consequence of anthropogenic activities and climate change. Restoring mangroves – one of the most damaged ecosystems in the world, at the global level – is vital in the fight against climate change but also prevents coastal erosion, at a more local level. The coral reefs are rich habitats for fish but the artificial coral reefs that the team have planted are showing great promise, with fish returning. 

Nonetheless, food security remains a concern in the region, as well as elsewhere in the world. The UNESCO Chair in Marine Sciences is also collaborating on innovative research projects on aquaculture with the University of Malaysia and the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. One of the projects explores the possibility of replacing fish meal with insect meal as a protein substitute for fish stocks, which are under greater pressure. As the first UNESCO Chair in marine sciences in the region, Prof. Vethamony has also been working with UNESCO regional partners to strengthen action, including with the UNESCO Chair on Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Sustainable Development, also based in Qatar, to encourage young professionals into careers on sustainable ocean practices.

Love of the ocean: The vital first step

For Prof Guimarães and her UNESCO Chair team, raising awareness of the importance of the ocean starts even earlier, for younger generations from primary school age. She can barely hide her enthusiasm when talking about diatoms, tiny unicellular organisms of the ocean, which contribute to carbon fixation: “every 5th breathe that we take is thanks to diatoms. And we now know that roughly about 50% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean phytoplankton and seaweeds. But who knows this!” For her, early education about the ocean is key for its long-term sustainability: “we realized that there was a lack of knowledge and emotional attachment to the ocean. But young people need this knowledge. I think we should show them the beauty of the ocean, the beauty of the animals, the beauty of the processes. And we need to teach them to love the sea!” This philosophy guides the approach of the work of the UNESCO Chair, and particularly avoiding “ecological anxiety”, she instead intends to transmit optimism.

The UNESCO Chair that Prof Guimarães leads has been supporting the development of a pioneering concept of “Blue Schools”: a school distinction that encourages the development of projects related to the ocean, working with local community actors and designating students as ambassadors. Teachers are encouraged to organize hands-on pedagogical trips to the coast, yoga classes based on the movements of the animals or origami to learn about marine creature anatomy. Portugal has always had a strong connection with the ocean due to its vast maritime territory and close historical linkages. It adopted the notion of ocean literacy in schools in 2012 and has begun reflections on how to formally introduce it into the school curricula. The Blue Schools Initiative is flexible enough to adapt to regional cultural differences, including coastal or in-land communities. 

To further the spread ocean literacy, her UNESCO Chair is stepping up cooperation with other Lusophone countries, including Cabo Verde, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique. In collaboration with colleagues, she is developing teacher training and educational resources, and is currently developing training on pollution in coastal areas. “Being a UNESCO Chair is a great honour,” says Prof Guimarães, “it’s a prestigious recognition and that helps to develop a common action with partner institutions. The fact that UNESCO recognizes our proposal of common interest is very important in the national and international context.”