The Franja Marina Teno-Rasca, the strip of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between Tenerife and La Gomera, is one of the most important cetacean habitats in the world, as well as being an environment of outstanding biodiversity. In an effort to share the importance of this area with others, last year Abama worked with scientists, conservationists and marine photographers to create the book Abama Blue Ocean. It was a great first step, and allowed us to learn much from some of the people most deeply involved in the protection of our oceans.
We were then fortunate to host a two-day event at the end of August that brought together numerous groups to begin discussing next steps. The attendees included Max Bello, a representative of Mission Blue, an organization that works to protect ocean habitats; Ana Dorta, the Mayor of Guía de Isora, who revealed the municipality's plans to build an ocean discovery center; and Rosa Dávila, the President of the Cabildo de Tenerife, who plans to promote more collaboration between public and private entities.
Below, we share some of the interesting moments from the exchanges that our Marketing and Communications Director, Elodie Casola, had with the participants.
Max Bello, Director of Public Policy for Mission Blue
Max Bello, to me you’re a guardian of the oceans, but tell us in your own words who you are and why the ocean is so important.
I work in an organization called Mission Blue, which was founded by Sylvia Earle, and I'm the director of public policy. I work with many other organizations and in many countries for ocean conservation. I have focused a lot on the creation of protected spaces in the ocean, because it’s the ocean that has created the conditions that allow humans to live. At present, there is no other known place that has an ocean like the one we have on Earth.
I understand that this is your first time in the Canary Islands, first in Tenerife and first in the Franja Marina Teno-Rasca. Tell us why you’ve come and what you’ve found.
Mission Blue has what are called Hope Spots and one of our Champions is Francis Perez, who is a world-renowned photographer. We took an opportunity to come here and see the possibilities of creating protected areas with greater conservation. This is a place within the Atlantic and at the global level that is very important. We were listening today, for example, to a scientist who told us that the short-finned pilot whales here are the largest known resident population in the world, and that means something. Why are they there? What are the conditions that allow these animals, who are also apex predators, to be here?
I came because I think the Canary Islands is a place that needs and deserves more protection and I think a lot of people are seeing that. There are lots of local and national organizations that are aware of this, and maybe we can play a role in supporting that process.
I had the opportunity today to go out in the water and it was an incredible experience. I called my wife afterwards and commented to her that it really was unparalleled for me in terms of the relationship generated at that moment with the pilot whales in the water.
It also reminds you how little we know about the ocean. We often tend to build more relationships with land animals; when they’re in the ocean there’s a distance. But those animals are also wildlife.
You’ve been working for many years with international organizations, multilaterals, governments… What advice would you give to this destination and the government?
I think the main thing is that when people love something - their family, for example - and they see a threat to it, they will do whatever it takes to protect it. Because the sea and those animals are part of our family. The first thing is that we shouldn't wait for someone to come and do what each one of us can do. We’ve already seen the civil society in the Canary Islands activate itself around issues of concern. So I think it’s great that this initiative has arisen from Canarian society, and that they are defending and protecting what is theirs.
I liked a statement of Silvia Earle's that you repeated in the colloquium: we cannot do everything, but we can all do something.
Exactly. One tends to think about superheroes… that someone’s going to come along and solve our problems. But the truth is that we ourselves already have the power to make the right decisions.
Ana Dorta, Mayor of Guía de Isora
From your point of view, where can we continue to improve in protecting the Franja and the animals that live there? Tell us a little bit about your projects.
We have a true treasure in the ocean area off Guía de Isora and we want the cetaceans to be a symbol of identity of the municipality. That is why we have actively participated in the publication of this book and we will continue to participate to raise awareness of this iconic and marvelous place. To enter the ocean in this coastal area of Guía de Isora is to enter a magical world.
It’s no longer just residents who love this area. Now people are coming from abroad and ratifying the value of what we have here. What else can the private and public sector do to help?
I believe that collaboration and the conviction that what we’re exploring is good for everyone and represents our love for the environment - without renouncing our identity - will be something positive for new generations. We must make everyone aware that we live somewhere unique. The charge has to be led by the locals: both people from Guia de Isora and people for whom Guia de Isora, for multiple reasons, is their work center, where they meet up with their family, where they meet socially, where they go for cultural and environmental enrichment.
Collaboration is essential and when we do it hand in hand with experts, we have everything. That is what I want for this area and what all Isoranos and the administration that I have the privilege to preside over want.
We are working on a wonderful project now: a marine interpretation center. We want to educate children, but also to make everyone in the area aware of this magical corner and its singularity. And we believe that within this project, a marine interpretation center is the most appropriate instrument to make it known.
Any clue as to where, or when the project will be ready?
Well, we are evaluating where the most suitable place might be. To teach people about and introduce them to this treasure trove, it has to have particular characteristics. We are looking at the possibility of it being in Alcalá. It takes time. There is a wonderful architectural proposal that has already been approved by the Department of Tourism, Local Development, and by the Mayor's Office.
It's essential to me that we do not lose the identity of the place where this interpretation center will be located, and that the citizens of Guía de Isora feel they’re part of its development. If you’re part of something important, you take care of it, you protect it, and you want to tell people about it. So there is a very nice project that I think will be accepted by everyone, and in which we hope to involve the whole community. There is an educational component as well. Too often we fall into the mistake of being more familiar with distant wonders than with the beauty right in front of us.
Rosa Dávila, President of the Cabildo de Tenerife
I know you have a deep love for the ocean, not only professionally, but also in your personal life. Tell us a little about your experience and where this love came from.
I think that, like so many islanders, I have always lived in the ocean that surrounds us. And then, besides my interest in swimming in open water, I discovered, when I arrived at the Cabildo, extraordinary people like Pedro Millán - who is the director of Nature & the Environment - and Felipe Ravina. Felipe first took me snorkeling to see the turtles and then, when I really began diving, I discovered the wonders that are right here in this extraordinary marine reserve in this part of the Atlantic, which has one of the greatest levels of biodiversity in the world and deserves to be cared for and preserved.
Hence this initiative. The responsibility of the Cabildo, the government of the island, doesn’t stop at the coast. We wanted to go a little further and get into the oceans, and that’s why we decided to sign the United Nations Oceans Alliance.
Do you think communication is important to, as we heard in the colloquium, help Canary Islanders feel that this is in their DNA? That part of their culture and roots are in the ocean, and therefore it must be protected?
Notice that two of the most repeated words in the colloquium were “knowledge” and “communication.” The whole community needs to be involved so everyone feels concerned and part of this identity. To achieve that, we have to disseminate the information through lots of communication. Abama decided to do it through this wonderful book, but there are other channels like Felipe Ravina's: documentaries, social media. They are all essential for everyone to discover the wonders of this channel between Tenerife and La Gomera, which is the only cetacean sanctuary in Europe and the third most important in the world.
These are facts that many Canary Islanders aren’t aware of. We have the largest resident population of cetaceans in the world, and very few people know that. So dissemination, communication and, above all, involving the community in this discovery, will make them feel privileged to preserve and protect it.
And what can private companies do to continue helping to communicate and promote this area? Will there be any kind of public-private collaboration, do you think?
I believe it is essential. First of all, I think it is essential to raise awareness and to make sure companies know they are in an area that is fragile, unique and where it’s a luxury to work. It’s this awareness that drives the impulse to become directly involved in this collaboration. And from there, each economic and social agent is a fundamental element of transformation towards a much more active conservation process. And that is where public-private projects are born. There is a lot we can do between private companies and public bodies.
The ocean unites us and I believe that this global alliance allows us to act locally, knowing that there is also a great brotherhood behind us that we have built with Max and with people from all over the world. This will allow us to do outreach work, very important scientific work, and the work done by private companies that is an active part of preservation and conservation.
