Coastal Observations in Under-Resourced Countries

A fundamental issue faced by many countries and institutes is the access to equipment and expertise to properly observe and monitor the coastal ocean. These issues are compounded by the lack of standard operating procedures or best practices in conjunction with a common misconception that high-end equipment and facilities are needed.

In an attempt to tackle these issues, a task team has been set up under the IOC Ocean Best Practices framework. Starting in January 2022 and over the next 18 months, this task team aims to identify common and accepted best practices already used within the community for observations of physical, chemical and biological parameters of the coastal ocean, with a focus on the African continent. Identifying these practices will ultimately result in a package that is affordable to under-resourced countries, easily transportable, easy to use (i.e. can be taught to undergraduate students) and widely applicable (e.g. can be operated from a small coastal craft). In addition to this the package should also require no more than a bench space and minimal supporting infrastructure.

Vision

• Capacity development that is relevant and applicable to solve local issues
• Encouraging learning loops, as instrumentation in under-resourced countries can provide very valuable insights for more sober and efficient instrumentation in well-resourced countries
• Fostering sustainable processes where the deployment of observation systems and programs in under-resourced countries is an opportunity for knowledge transfer, co-creation and a driver for local entrepreneurship
• Taking into consideration not only the technical challenges but also the social and cultural challenges that may come into play in the deployment of ocean observing devices in under-resourced countries