The MPA_ADAPT pilot project is also operational for 2019 with the PADI Centers in collaboration with the DAN Europe Foundation in the MPAs of Portofino and Ustica.
All recreational divers who intend to join this initiative promoted by the MPA_ADAPT project will be able to do so with the PADI Centers operating in the MPAs of Portofino and Ustica that have joined the initiative and will be able to conduct dedicated diving and/or training courses to the “Citizen Science” through the release of the PADI Fish Identification certification.
The Diving Center staff has been specially trained and equipped with a series of tools, which will allow the involvement of recreational divers in integrated research actions by collecting data through the Identification of climate change species protocol, which will allow MPAs to have important data to address the problem of “Climate Change”, at the same time divers will donate the profile of their immersion to DAN Research which has involved divers for several years in gathering the information necessary for the study of data relating to dives from a physiological point of view.
Here is the list of the Diving that join the initiative:
Portofino MPA:
CORDERIA NAZIONALE: [email protected]
DIVING EVOLUTION: [email protected]
DIVING GROUP PORTOFINO: [email protected]
DIVING NERVI ITC: [email protected]
EUROPEAN DIVING ASD: [email protected]
PORTOFINO DIVERS: [email protected]
Ustica MPA:
BLU DIVING USTICA: [email protected]
LA PERLA NERA: [email protected]
LUSTRICA: [email protected]
MARE NOSTRUM: [email protected]
MISTER JUMP: [email protected]
ORCA DIVING USTICA: [email protected]
Here is the initiative in the words of Ernesto Azzurro ISPRA researcher:
A new adventure for PADI concerns the collaboration with the European project MPA-Adapt in the application of the ‘FISH VISUAL CENSUS – PERIODICAL MONITORING’ protocol. During this activity, the PADI diving groups will be engaged in collecting specific abundance data and bathymetric distribution of some fish species indicating climate change. The dives will be carried out in two pilot sites corresponding to the Marine Protected Areas of Ustica and Portofino. The study will be carried out in close collaboration with DAN Europe Research and with the Higher Institute for Environmental Research and Protection (ISPRA). The scientific data collected by the divers will be validated by the instructors, associated with the dive profile and subsequently sent to ISPRA researchers for processing. The information base will be made available to Marine Protected Areas as a tool to monitor the effects of climate change on the Mediterranean marine biota.
The DAN Research Team headed by Max Pieri collaborated on the project by integrating the data collection board with their historical Citizen Science program but we hear directly from his words the integration of their protocol within the project:
For many years DAN Europe has developed the participation of volunteers as an integral part of research projects, an activity known as “Citizen Science” and has been a leader for about 30 years. Citizen Science is currently used in many different fields (eg biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy) and the contribution that citizens can provide is different: making their observations available, carrying sensors capable of detecting environmental parameters and/or climatic conditions, to signal the presence of animals or plant species, etc. Strengthening this concept DAN Europe has created a new database, easy and intuitive, able to collect all the information on the diver and his dives and uploading them to an international database available on the Internet, interactive and dynamic with the aim of increasing safety in diving: from a project born in 2013 and developed over the years by the DAN Research team, the “Diver Safety Guardian” (DSG) is born. A new development of the DSG portal concerns the collaboration with the European project MPA-Adapt in the application of the ‘FISH VISUAL CENSUS – PERIODICAL MONITORING’ protocol for the monitoring of species indicating climate change. During this activity, DAN Europe Research will collect data on dive profiles at two pilot sites corresponding to the Marine Protected Areas of Ustica and Portofino. The scientific data collected by the divers will be associated with a series of information such as time and depth of immersion, physical exercise, current, visibility, thermal comfort, structure and environmental impact and subsequently analyzed and compared with the buddy system.
We are waiting for you to join us, as PADI we want to be “A Force for Good” for the future of our Ocean.
For more info: [email protected]
