The Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre) has announced a new Secretariat to coordinate the world Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), now hosted in Terceira island, in the Azores, Portugal.
MBON is a “coalition of the willing” who agree to share knowledge and know-how to evaluate changes of biodiversity in the ocean, including data, products, protocols and methods, data systems and software, to inform and support ecosystem-based management and the long-term health and use of marine ecosystems. MBON was established as a theme of the Group on Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), supported by 110 member countries, to grow a global community of practice, to develop and share best practices and standards on how to collect and share data about life in the sea.
The MBON Secretariat will coordinate and focus this community of practice on solving problems of society. The AIR Centre is an internationally networked organization, oriented to foster job creation and knowledge-driven sustainable economic development in Atlantic regions. It addresses and integrates space, climate, earth, ocean, energy, and data sciences and promotes cooperation in alignment with national/regional priorities and global challenges. It builds on and expands the abilities of individual organizations, and it advances selected scientific and technological domains and their constellations of actors towards shared targets. For that, it recruits and orchestrates a complex web of organizations and individuals to deliver change and social impact through concrete actions.
The AIR Centre and its Earth Observation Laboratory (EO Lab) located in Terceira Island, Azores will provide technical and logistical support to the MBON Secretariat with the allocation of dedicated staff.
