We are pleased to announce that the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) will be leading an initiative to develop a project identification form (PIF) under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on “Promoting the Integrated Management of Sargassum: Building Resilient Tourism and Fisheries Sectors through the Conservation of Marine Ecosystems (SARGMARINE).” The Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) will fund this work.

The SARGMARINE project is designed within the strategy framework proposed in the UNEP- CEP 2021 Sargassum White paper, which identifies a range of possible interventions and management strategies that may be broadly categorized as either adaptation or mitigation.

The expected results include the following:

• Improved planning and response through country-driven monitoring and evaluation initiatives and exposure and vulnerability assessments of sargassum influxes;
• Improved forecasting products tailored to tourism and fisheries sectors that support the establishment of national sargassum early warning systems;
• Informed decision-making and action through the determination of the feasibility of sargassum valorization as a means of alleviating impacts; and,
• Policy recommendations for local governments to promote blue-growth initiatives and foster the development of the blue economy.

Stay tuned for more details!