2022 was a year of growth and changes for Blue Pangolin Consulting. The year saw a gradual return to a normal state of affairs after the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the organisation by Blue Pangolin of a wide array of high-level events on the global stage, along with exciting new projects and even a new team member!
Here are some highlights of 2022 for Blue Pangolin:
People
The Blue Pangolin family continued to grow by welcoming a new member to the team, Anna, who joined in October! Learn more about Anna and her role at Blue Pangolin here.
Coral reefs & international events
Throughout the year, the Blue Pangolin team supported the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), as part of its role as the Designated Administrative Representative for the ICRI Secretariat. This support saw a variety of work produced throughout the year, with a key component being the organisation of many high-level coral reef events at international conferences. Some highlights of our work #ForCoral include:
- Organising many successful coral reef events, such as during the Monaco Ocean Week, UN Ocean Conference, and COP15
- Overseeing the work of ICRI’s three ad hoc committees, which are working on the Post-2020 Coral Reef Target, Reef Restoration and Resilience-Based Management
- Managing ICRI’s communication on different platforms (website, Twitter, LinkedIn, newsletter)
- Francis joined the Steering Committee of a Fund for the Coral Triangle region and was selected as an expert by the Convention on Biological Diversity (UN Biodiversity) to represent ICRI in the online forum on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas in preparation for the CBD COP15
- Tom was nominated as an expert to participate in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine and Coastal Biodiversity” discussion forum, representing ICRI
Francis continued to support the French Coral Reef Initiative (IFRECOR) and participated in its national committee at the French Ministry of Overseas territories in December.
New contracts
2022 saw the Blue Pangolin team being awarded contracts focusing on a wide range of marine conservation topics, from Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to marine turtles and coral reef monitoring. Clients included the MedFund, the UN Development Programme, the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Landell Mills, and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Learn more about our past and current projects here.
Marine mammal conservation
2022 was also filled with marine mammal conservation matters. Francis and Tom attended the MedPAN Regional experience-sharing Workshop on MPA management effectiveness in Petrovac, Montenegro, and presented the Marine Mammals Management Toolkit. Francis also presented the Toolkit to 30 MPA managers from South America in an online meeting, and at the second ASCOBANS workshop on the management of MPAs for small cetaceans in Helsinki. Francis and Tom also attended the Marine Mammals Twinning Partner’s Workshop in Cambridge, UK.
Publications
Throughout 2022, the Blue Pangolin team has co-authored, supported, and been acknowledged in numerous reports and publications, such as:
- A paper proposing a workflow to integrate ecological monitoring data from different sources
- An article in The Environment on coral reefs
- An article introducing the latest Plan of Action of the International Coral Reef Initiative for 2021-2024
You can find more publications with contributions from our team here.
In 2022 the Blue Pangolin Team carried out a wide range of projects, organised and participated in events at key international conferences, expanded its network, and helped advance marine conservation efforts globally. Now the team looks forward to achieving more in 2023!