Increasing local preparedness to Sargassum tides in the Amazon and the Mexican Caribbean through enhanced monitoring and blue economies

• Grant number: 23/12355-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Agreement: New Frontiers in Research Fund
• Principal Investigator: Joao Adriano Rossignolo
• Grantee: Joao Adriano Rossignolo
• Principal researcher abroad: Maycira Pereira de Farias Costa
• Institution abroad: University of Victoria (UVic), Canada
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ana Carolina Constâncio Trindade ; Cícero Alves Lima Júnior ; Cristiane Bueno ; Gabriela Pitolli Lyra ; Holmer Savastano Junior ; Jaqueline Leite Ribeiro do Vale ; José Eduardo Martinelli Filho ; Juliano Fiorelli ; Marcia Regina Farias da Silva ; Maria Elisa de Paula Eduardo Garavello ; Mariana Matera Veras ; Paulo Takeo Sano ; Sofia Araújo Lima Bessa ; Vânia Galindo Massabni
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/16946-5 - Sargassum Hornification for Particulate Composites: A Circular Economy and Coastal Sustainability Approach, BP.PD; 24/22236-0 - Limiting aspects and enablers of preventing events with Sargassum in local communities, BP.PD; 24/13680-4 - Limiting aspects and enablers of preventing events with Sargassum in local communities, BP.PD

Abstract

While there has been interest in recent years to develop commercial products from Sargassum seaweed, there is currently no system in place to increase local preparedness for Sargassum blooms and coordinate safe collection by local communities . Furthermore, a lack of community awareness, adaptive capacities, and monitoring efforts, a cohesive framework for Sargassum management challenges the exploration of locally-led circular economy models based on Sargassum that elevates local leadership in support of livelihoods, gender justice, and ecosystem health. The proposed project aims to support two local communities with a long-standing collaborative relationship with the research team: the communities of Mahahual, Quintana Roo, Mexico, and Salinopolis, Para, Brazil. More specifically, the project's goal is to "reduce the negative impacts associated with MSL through the co-creation of a Sargassum management framework with the communities of Mahahual and Salinopolis, generating the necessary capacities for holistic Sargassum management, including Sargassum-monitoring and valorization, supporting local blue economies, livelihoods, and ecosystem health ." These two communities are particularly vulnerable to MSL since (1) their economies, food security, and associated livelihoods are highly dependent on tourism and fishing, (2) current actions and resources to mitigate impacts in the region are not focused in smaller communities like these and thus, (3) are chronically exposed to Sargassum decomposition-health-impacts. Furthermore, Salinopolis and Mahahual are among the areas with the largest accumulation and recurrence of Sargassum events along the Brazilian and Mexican coasts. Working with local communities in Quintana Roo is critical since it is the most tourism dependent state of the nation, with the most tourism-dependent urban areas in the world. Similarly, working with local communities on the Brazilian Amazon Coastline is important because massive Sargassum landings (MSL) events have been associated with nutrient discharges from rivers in the area, and studying Sargassum dynamics in the area is necessary to understand better the surge of Sargassum blooms since 2011. (AU)