New funding for marine surveys

The Biological Conservation Research Foundation, Bicref, has received a sponsorship from the Aware Foundation to continue with and expand its regular surveys and observations of marine life.

The foundation said that conserving local marine life depended on regular surveys and observations, as well as careful identification and quantification of the species found around the coast and in the sea.

Such a conservation assessment was launched by Bicref in 2002 with the preparation of underwater slates and forms distributed to interested diving shops and schools.

Aware's sponsorship will allow Bicref to distribute more slates and forms to diving schools, so as to increase the involvement of both local and visiting divers and snorklers.

Project Aware, which stands for Aquatic World Awareness, Responsibility and Education, was first founded in 1989 by PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, as a means of stressing the diver's role in conserving the underwater environment.

Conservation biologist and Bicref representative Adriana Vella said that in a changing environment it was essential to be able to monitor distributions and the presence of previously recorded and unrecorded species found in Maltese waters.

These indications could then be studied further by Bicref members and university students under Dr Vella's supervision.

Dr Vella said that such monitoring and observations have, in the past, already produced interesting and relevant conservation information, such as the recording of previously locally unrecorded or rare species, the decline of typical species usually found in certain areas, and the presence of dead fish in large numbers.

The ongoing record keeping and data analysis were also considered side by side with human activities around the Maltese coast and offshore in Malta's territorial and conservation zone.

Further information can be obtained from Bicref, PO Box 30, Hamrun.

bicref@gmail.com

www.bicref.org