Cristian Fabián Lagger
The goal of my project is to foster the conservation of the Monte León National Park marine biodiversity. The results obtained will help secure proper planning, adequate monitoring, and effective implementation of management actions. To do so, we will elaborate the first marine diversity inventory of this National Park and develop an updated diagnosis of the underwater environmental status providing conservation recommendations. There is no possible conservation if communities are not engaged and educated with their resources, so we will produce audio-visual content to raise awareness of the need for marine protection of the Patagonian Sea.
An underwater photo showing the exact moment when a scientific diver collects biological material to study the marine biodiversity of MLNP.
This study expects to elaborate the first marine diversity inventory of the Monte León National Park, accompanied by detailed ecological information on the species and the current invasiveness status of each one of them. Our results will also help prepare an exhaustive and updated diagnosis of the Park’s underwater environmental state, aiming to help the proper planning of its management, monitoring, and conservation. The results of this work will provide valuable information from an area that is little known, from a scientific point of view, but that may harbour a high value of regional biodiversity. It should be noted that the knowledge of the sublittoral zone of the park will substantially increase the knowledge of the real link between the trophic, energy, reproductive and breeding cycles that exist between the terrestrial part, the intertidal environments and the subtidal region of this coastal ecosystem.
On the other hand, this project expects to generate original audio-visual material with different output formats for use in educational, conservation and tourism dissemination activities. The audio-visual content will also raise awareness and support the justification for marine protection of this valuable ecosystem. In this way, this project will not only provide important information to the local community but also will be an invaluable forward leap in the knowledge of the Patagonian region in general, which will help to project better management and conservation plans in favour of the community and the entire ecosystem.
Header: Drone photo showing the extent of one of the kelp forest patches on the MLNP coast.