Marine Biodiversity and Ocean Science: An analytical perspective of democratizing the scientific knowledge
Júlia Schütz Veiga, Larakethllinmaia, Isabela Bomfim and Paulo Belém
This brief article provides an analytical perspective of democratizing the scientific knowledge. Environmental issues have took placed in global agenda, considering problems resulted from climate crisis. The momentum delineates constantly and general environmental crisis, such as increasing of biodiversity loss, desertification of some areas and increasingly constant accentuated climatic events. All those problems have the global warming as their main cause. In this context, overturn those hazards should be imperative to respond to the anthropogenic threats. Research and development excel a key element for that adjustment. Ocean is one of the primary actors in climate regulation processes and has so far mitigated the impacts of climate change by retaining much of the heat. For instance, the ocean absorbs more than 90% of the CO2 from the atmosphere. Thus, our ‘safety scape’ has not only lost its role, but is being destroyed.
One of the main ongoing debate is the developing of the New Implementing Agreement, under UNCLOS, on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). In this regard, there are a few investigations which highlight the imbalance of promoting and developing scientific knowledge among states. The knowledge power has been maintained by a few developed states. So, how to change this state practice? How to include the ‘voices’ of least developed states?
Taking all this into consideration, it is urgent to deepen research on the marine environment to change, beyond the marine perspective, the land-sea connection in order to guarantee a decent life for future generations (as provided in the preamble of UNCLOS). The last Global Science Report (IOC-UNESCO, 2020) confirms that we still know very little about marine environment, and the scientific research is underdeveloped among the least developed states. The high cost and the long lead time involved in producing viable and reliable research imply (or at least delay) the design and implementation of measures to conserve the marine environment as a priority for public and private policy.
Lack of funding to marine research is a global reality, resulting in in only 10% of the seabed beyond the continental shelf being mapped. According to Tolochko and Vadrot (2021), this reality of large gaps in marine knowledge is further exacerbated in least developed countries, as research produced shows. The article ‘The Usual Suspects? Distribution of collaboration capital in marine biodiversity research’ by Tolochko and Vadrot (2020), exposes the need for international collaboration on marine biodiversity so that the specificities of each area can be attended to. However, what we see in practice is a great imbalance between the scientific production of the North and South global.
The lack of information about the least developed countries hinders the identification of their needs. Therefore, the authors (above-mentioned) set out to map those in their study, which analyzes the distribution of international research production. To achieve their scientific contribution, they defined as metrics (i) the metadata of the analyzed articles; (ii) an analysis of the network of contacts involved; and (iii) a new measure, which they named “collaboration capital”, understood as how valuable it was to work with certain people.
During the research, regional collaboration is discussed, demonstrating how much the global North, especially Europe, prioritizes strengthening internal collaboration capital. In this sense, the so-called “usual suspects” become protagonists in the global conjuncture, as far as marine research production is concerned. Yet, the importance of strong science is cited for the existence of international organizations for implementing treaties and conventions. For instance, BBNJ process highlights the importance of a bottom-up approach, as well as the need of in-depth knowledge of areas beyond national jurisdiction for its implementation. How to conserve and/or use sustainability marine biodiversity if we do not know about deep sea life? Can we achieve great ocean governance without knowing how marine ecosystems work?
To foster this greater collaboration, some scientific initiatives and programs have been created. For instance, the Census of Marine Life program (ended in 2010) and the current Ocean Decade (2021–2030) have already contributed or are contributing to the cause. The institution of these incentives, however, has not been sufficient. Moreover, the structural differences between countries must be taken into consideration for a better distribution of resources and the provision of support that starts from the understanding of the singularities and difficulties of each country, especially those with the greatest gaps. In this scenario, the global South is markedly composed of nations that have in common the fact that they constituted the colonial or semi-colonial periphery (i.e. current least developed states). The scientific gap among states persists until today, even the UNCLOS provides measures to diminish it. The significative differences impact on the research and development of marine environment, as noted in the article itself. There is a worsening of this context in the less developed states. The existence of a population in a greater situation of vulnerability is one of the main obstacles.
As previously mentioned, environmental disasters have been intensifying and becoming more frequent. Those hazards expose vulnerable people to a situation of socio-environmental injustice, which is characterized precisely by the fact that irresponsibility towards the environment hits people who are already weakened in a more serious way, making it impossible for them to live a dignified life.
Therefore, it is imperative that we — in the global South — recognize the lack of mapping of our needs and start acting to (i) raise the debate, (ii) foster the production of research, and (iii) develop projects that act in the direction of bridging these gaps. Moreover, the strengthening of regional networks through partnerships both in the development of research and in the implementation of projects is unthinkable. In this context, the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AANCHOR) performs an important role to the global South; its focus (i.e. enhancing marine research and innovation cooperation along and across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Arctic to Antarctica) provides a relevant input on researching in the Atlantic region, especially South Atlantic.
Despite sharing socio-economic characteristics with the other countries, Latin America has its own cultural and biodiversity peculiarities. Although these countries concentrate a large part of the global biodiversity, there is a few studies about it due to lack of monetary and technological resources, i.e. capacity-building and technology transfer are crucial elements in the development of this change. Despite the difficulties, this group has an immense potential to contribute to that challenge in providing an evolution of ocean sciences, especially because the majority of those countries is coastal States — with the exception of Paraguay and Bolivia. Thus, it is important to stimulate the formation of a Latin American tradition in research, as it would not only allow the poorest countries to find ways to strengthen their economies (based on sustainable solutions), but also to seek to enhance the value of research production outside the European center.
Of the Latin American countries, Brazil has the largest economy and holds the largest territory. In addition, it stands out as one of the most relevant in the region in ocean sciences research, ranking 11th in 2019. So there is great potential for us to be a great disseminator and encourager of ocean culture. Despite all the laurels, we still have a long way to go. Besides the issues in common with other Latin countries, very specific problems persist: (i) we have never had a report on coastal environmental quality; (ii) there is little information about the South Atlantic; and (iii) there is a major management problem that directly affects ecosystems (e.g. the lack of basic sanitation — only 49.1% of the population has access to — revealing socio-environmental injustice and entailing ill consequences to the marine environment).
In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that the ocean is only one (as the UNCLOS preamble attests in reflecting the interconnectivity of ocean space), and solving its problems depends closely on global collaboration and strengthened networks. Moreover, collaboration from academia alone is not enough. It is necessary to create an oceanic culture and to involve the private and public sectors, as well as civil society around this cause. Also, the ‘Eurocentricization’ of academia has been discussed for some time, and it is interesting to note this article, despite exposing problems from the global South, was produced in Europe. It is healthy for countries to raise gaps in each other’s science, but it is important that we question: what science is being valued? and what science is being heard?. Many years have passed, but some colonial ideals are still embedded in our imagination.
A close look by Latin American researchers at the problem of scarce regional collaboration in the global South is indispensable. It is up to us to reflect on the global fate our collaboration capital. Citation and co-authorship rates need to be expanded. The Ocean Decade, while an urgent and timely initiative, is not sufficient for enhancing all those needs (as mentioned earlier). For example, less than 50% of coastal states are represented in the Ocean Decade. So how to move forward in this scenario? We, not as scientists, but as citizens, must pay attention to the steps being taken, fulfill our role as individuals part of a global (and unique) community, and demand commitment to solving this and other contemporary problems from those who are due. As scientists, we must pursue evolving scientific research, based in the best practices and helping the integration between science, law and politics.
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