On Wednesday, November 27, Workness headquarters in Milan hosted the closing event of the 2024 edition of Project M.A.R.E..
Introducing the evening, Enrico Bertacchi, secretary of the CVC Foundation, pointed out that the seed of the project has now definitely germinated. "M.A.R.E. is now the most important ongoing study of the health of the Mediterranean. Uqthese years have been an extraordinary journey made possible by the decisive contribution of sponsors such as the Navy and the Region of Sardinia, and by those who have believed in us from Yamamay, founding partner of the project, to the many new friends who have joined this adventure along the way such as Shiseido, Deutsche Bank Italia Foundation, Workness and Toio."
During the just-concluded edition, the project's catamaran sailed more than 2,000 miles in the western Mediterranean, touching cities such as Barcelona, Marseille and Ajaccio. The 17 researchers involved collected valuable data: 61 marine wildlife sightings, environmental DNA samples and zooplankton to study biodiversity and pollution. The evening allowed them to share these results and reflect on the impact of their activities. Benedetta Villa displayed on behalf of One Ocean Foundation, the project's scientific officer, the scientific data collected in previous editions and the scientific publications that benefited from the data collected on the One catamaran.
A central moment of the event was the announcement of the 2025 edition, which will take M.A.R.E. to Greece and Turkey. This expansion consolidates the goal of building a Mediterranean network for environmental protection, with a focus on biodiversity, sustainability and international cooperation. "With the route planned for 2025 we will in fact complete the mapping of the navigable part of the Mediterranean touching Greece and Turkey- commented Bertacchi-, in the future our idea is to cyclically retrace the same routes but with a three-year planning, so as to give an even broader scope to the scientific projects we will host."
