Accord Pelagos Accordo Pelagos relatif à la création en Méditerranée relativo alla creazione nel Mediterraneo d’un Sanctuaire pour les mammifères marins di un Santuario per i mammiferi marini 6ème Réunion des Parties VI Riunione delle Parti Hyères, 15-16 décembre 2015 Hyères, 15-16 dicembre 2015 Pelagos_COP6_Inf10 Français / Italiano Distribution / Distribuzione: 07/12/2015 PROJECT “DOLPHIN WITHOUT BORDERS” Secrétariat Permanent de l’Accord Pelagos / Segretariato Permanente dell’Accordo Pelagos Palazzo Ducale – Piazza Matteotti, 9 – IT-16123 Genova Tel: +39 010 570 22 01 – Email: [email protected] - Web: www.pelagos-sanctuary.org Modulo di presentazione dettagliata/Formulaire de présentation détaillée DOLPHINS WITHOUT BORDERS DAUPHINS SANS FRONTIÈRES DELFINI SENZA FRONTIERE a project of bottlenose dolphin research, conservation, and awareness GENERAL INFORMATION Person in charge of the project: Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara President Organisation: Tethys Research Institute (“Istituto Tethys ONLUS”, www.tethys.org) Tel: +39 335 6376035 - Email: [email protected] Partners: 1. GIS3M, France (www.gis3m.org) Person in charge: Hélène Labach 2. Fondazione Acquario di Genova ONLUS, Italy (www.fondazioneacquariodigenova.it) Person in charge: Guido Gnone 3. CE.TU.S., Italy (www.cetusresearch.eu) Person in charge: Silvio Nuti 4. Università di Sassari, Italy (www.uniss.it/php/dipnet.php) Person in charge: Renata Manconi PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1. Goals. a) To support the conservation of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the Pelagos Sanctuary; b) at the same time taking advantage of the popularity of these charismatic mammals to help raising awareness within the wider public on the conservation of the marine environment; and c) strengthening the links among Pelagos and the many MPAs and National Parks existing within the Sanctuary boundaries by promoting a sustained coordination and systematic implementation of dolphin monitoring and conservation action in the area. 2. Expected outcomes. This one-year project will take place in the Italian portion of the Pelagos Sanctuary (Fig. 1), and is designed to complement parallel activities conducted in French Mediterranean waters by the partner organisation GIS3M with its GDEGeM project (Fig. 2). Accordingly, activities will be conducted in tight coordination between the Tethys Research Institute and GIS3M, particularly as far as monitoring, conservation and management aspects are concerned. Through the implementation of this project in partnership with the GDEGeM project, and the ensuing development and adoption of a shared monitoring protocol among research groups and MPA management bodies, including the creation of a shared photo-ID database, it will be possible to contribute substantively to the creation of a comprehensive picture of bottlenose dolphin abundance, distribution, movement patterns, home range, habitat preferences, population structure, and possibly contaminants, in the Pelagos Sanctuary area. Italian protected areas that will be approached to solicit cooperation in the project, as an integration to the French MPAs approached in the GDEGeM project, shall include three National Parks (Arcipelago Toscano, Isola dell’Asinara, Arcipelago della Maddalena) and four Marine Protected Areas (Isola di Bergeggi, Portofino, Cinque Terre, Secche della Meloria). The National Parks in particular are all known to contain important bottlenose dolphin habitat, and their cooperation will entail significant conservation importance for the species. The dolphins’ ecological data collected through approximately 180 cumulative days of field campaigns, combined with the data collected in the French waters through GDEGeM, and historical data collected by project partners or available from the literature and online databases (e.g., Fig. 3), will create the basis for the development of proposals for place-based conservation for the bottlenose dolphins of the area, including the assessment of the specific conservation importance of the existing protected areas, the proposals for new areas (if needed), and recommendations for the adoption of specific management measures to counteract threats. Ad hoc training programmes on monitoring, photo-ID techniques, management and conservation best practices will be organised to the benefit of interested MPA management bodies, enforcement officials and local research groups. Finally, the 31 Italian municipalities from Liguria, Tuscany and Sardinia that have formally engaged in partnership with the Pelagos Sanctuary (as of 31 January 2013) will be contacted in order to explore the implementation of joint programmes of information, awareness building and local involvement in bottlenose dolphin conservation activities, to be strengthened and prolonged in future years with additional human and financial resources. 3. Interest of the study and expected contribution to knowledge. This project aims at improving the knowledge and conservation of common bottlenose dolphin in the Pelagos Sanctuary and improve the public awareness on marine conservation thanks to the bottlenose dolphin image, gathering scientist and managers from France and Italy. Dolphin Without Borders will allow the development of full integration between actions in Italian waters, foreseen in the present project, and actions implemented in the French waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary and beyond, foreseen in the GDEGeM project. GDEGeM (“Bottlenose Dolphin Study and Management in the Mediterranean Sea”), coordinated by the GIS3M (“Group of Scientific Interest for Mediterranean Marine Mammals”), is a collaborative and multi-disciplinary, 2.5 years-long project started in early 2013 (Fig. 2). This project, supported by the MAVA Foundation, the Endowment Fund for Biodiversity through the « Save Your Logo » program, and the French Marine Protected Area Agency, involves the cooperation between scientists and managers, and is implemented in partnership with the Pelagos Sanctuary, ACCOBAMS, the French Marine Protected Area Agency and the MedPAN network. The main goal of the project - improving the conservation of this sub-population – is being achieved through three specific and complementary objectives: ! 2! • to improve the knowledge on the population through photo-identification campaigns and analyses, genetic analyses and passive acoustic monitoring; • to provide technical support to MPA managers for monitoring the species and implementing conservation measures through training sessions, standard protocols and the proposal of measures; • to strengthen the MPA network by providing a wider regional management tool through the improvement of communication and exchange. Dolphins Without Borders will contribute to accrue the most updated comprehensive information on bottlenose dolphin ecology and conservation status available from the northwestern Mediterranean. These efforts will facilitate advances in local knowledge of the species’ abundance, distribution, movement patterns, habitat selection, population structure, and threats, which will be subject of publications in the international, peer- reviewed literature. Although a substantive contribution to knowledge increase is expected from this project, a significant effort during its duration (limited to one year) will also be devoted to lay the foundations for the continuation of monitoring efforts by available MPA management bodies and local research groups, on the basis of shared data collection protocols, thereby enhancing the future sustainability of obtained results. 4. Communication: types and proposed means. A dedicated webpage and a Facebook page to describe the project and its progress and outcomes will be created in Italian and French, with links to the sites of the Pelagos Sanctuary, of the relevant National Parks and MPAs, and of corresponding organisations. Local communication efforts, tailored to specific needs, will also be carried out in cooperation with the municipalities that are partners of the Pelagos Sanctuary, and may include proposals of participatory activities (e.g., adoption programmes, respectful dolphin watching from land and from vessels, dolphin watching rules) for the wider public. METHODS Dolphins Without Borders will implement actions for bottlenose dolphin monitoring and management in the Italian waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary in parallel to similar actions implemented in the French waters through the GDEGeM project, and will develop a coordination allowing a strong collaboration, overall analyses and standardized protocols and measures for bottlenose dolphin monitoring and management in the Pelagos Sanctuary area. 1. Overall methods description Scientific actions • about 180 days of field campaigns will be organised in the Italian continental waters of the Pelagos Sanctuary to collect photo-identification and ecological data (Fig. 1). The northern area will be covered by the Tethys Research Institute, the north-eastern area by Fondazione Acquario di Genova ONLUS, and the eastern area by CE.TU.S. and the Tethys Research Institute). • Bottlenose dolphin abundance, distribution, seasonality, home range and movements in the Pelagos Sanctuary will be investigated through the analysis of sighting and photo-identification data collected in this project and in GDEGeM, and will generate encounter rate values and habitat maps through spatial modelling, thereby identifying the distribution of the species’ critical habitats in the project area. • A shared northwestern Mediterranean bottlenose dolphin photo-ID