The Science and Communities Program works closely with other programs of the MarViva Foundation; it has the major responsibility of supplying information of interest in a clear and summarized fashion as a basis for the development of MarViva's projects or initiatives.
In addition, it works on consolidating alliances and inter-institutional and community agreements that are essential for strengthening interest in coastal and marine conservation, while also collaborating to position the marine spatial planning approach as a key tool in regional development planning.
The support, follow up, validation and synthesis of useful technical studies is an important activity in this program, because they are used as the basis for setting and communicating policies that reinforce decision-making in the context of Marine Spatial Planning. For this purpose, inter-institutional partnerships are established to acquire, transfer and share information of interest.
Among the most notable of these projects is the creation of a Geographic Information System, whose main purpose is to graphically represent the distribution in time and space of resources, ecosystems and marine uses on maps, and to determine which of these are compatible. Together with the Political Advocacy Program and the Communications Program of Mar Viva and all the actors in the work areas, this is to facilitate and ensure that decisions for marine spatial planning are made in an informed, comprehensive and participatory way.
The relationship between the uses that can be made of the sea and the socioeconomic reality of the coastal communities is a focal point of work for the Science Program, because, in conjunction with the Communities Program, it aims to generate opportunities for improvement and socioeconomic alternatives for the population, provided they make proper use of the marine resources.
Much of this work is based on the governance of Marine Protected Areas, sustainable tourism and the collaboration between community, private enterprise and government for the protection and conservation of marine resources.
It provides tools to the inhabitants of coastal zones to visualize their future beyond fishing, without limiting them to their usual work; rather it provides them with the information necessary for carrying out work that is balanced with maintaining the resources that are ultimately the welfare of all.
Socioeconomic studies are constantly carried out with the intention of offering productive alternatives to the members of coastal communities so that they do not have to depend entirely on fishing.
MarViva functions as an important bridge between the artisanal fishers and private enterprise, focusing on creating relationships between the two to achieve low-impact fishing. It also collaborates on the creation of commercial and tourism micro-businesses from the perspective of contributing to community advancement.
As part of this project, detailed follow up has been given to the comprehensive work in which tourism (cabin rental, tours, camping) and other services are giving new business opportunities to the coastal populations along with good use of the resource.
We aim to have a model community in resource conservation and sustainable maintenance and for this we advise its members and raise awareness in them about the benefits that accrue from responsible fishing.
In this situation, different consultancies are made with specialists to identify and characterize the products that can be marketed according to coastal zone.