OBIS helping to assess biodiversity at UNESCO Marine World Heritage sites
OBIS partnered with UNESCOโs Marine World Heritage sites in a global project to study biodiversity. A two-year project using environmental DNA (eDNA) to study biodiversity across selected marine World Heritage sites by local citizens guided by expert support, to monitor fish as well as species red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was launched on the 18 th of October 2021. OBIS will play a major role in developing standard protocols for sampling and data management using eDNA for ocean monitoring and data collection.
The project will apply a consistent methodology across multiple marine protected areas simultaneously for the first time, demonstrating the benefit of global standards while making collected data available to the public via OBIS. This will help measure the vulnerability of marine protected areas to climate change and estimate the impacts of that change on the diversity of marine life across marine World Heritage sites, helping to understand global trends and inform ongoing efforts to protect marine ecosystems and ensure future generations continue to enjoy the services they provide.