The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) and the Canary Foundation for the La Palma World Biosphere Reserve have signed a General Cooperation Protocol establishing a stable framework for collaboration to promote research, innovation, sustainability and knowledge transfer in La Palma, with particular attention to the island’s marine and coastal environment.
The agreement was signed at the BECOMAR “Rogelio Herrera” Marine Biodiversity and Blue Economy Observatory, in Tazacorte, by PLOCAN’s Director, José Joaquín Hernández Brito, and the President of La Palma Island Council and of the Canary Foundation for the La Palma World Biosphere Reserve, Sergio Rodríguez Fernández.
The event was also attended by Mariano Hernández Zapata, the Canary Islands Government’s Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy; Alfonso Montes de Oca Acosta, executive director of the Canary Islands La Palma World Biosphere Reserve Foundation; David Ruiz, mayor of Tazacorte; and representatives of the participating organizations. The agreement will promote the scientific, technological, educational, and social use of BECOMAR and strengthen its integration into research, conservation, and sustainable development initiatives underway on La Palma.
PLOCAN’s Director, José Joaquín Hernández Brito, highlighted that “BECOMAR was conceived to work permanently from and for La Palma. This protocol expands its capacity to host scientific and technical activity, share data, train professionals and generate new collaborations. It marks the beginning of a phase in which the infrastructure must be consolidated through ongoing projects and uses.”
The agreement covers collaboration in areas such as ocean observation, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, training, citizen science, environmental awareness, innovation and the blue economy. It will also facilitate the use of PLOCAN’s infrastructure in La Palma, promote the exchange of data and knowledge, and support the joint development of R&D&I projects and other scientific and technological initiatives.
The cooperation combines PLOCAN’s scientific, technological and marine observation capabilities with the La Palma World Biosphere Reserve’s expertise in conservation, participatory management, outreach and sustainable development, helping to provide BECOMAR with an ongoing programme of activities and to strengthen its role as an infrastructure serving the scientific community, public authorities, the socio-economic fabric and the people of La Palma.
This new agreement is part of the strategy that PLOCAN has been developing to enhance scientific and technological capabilities related to the marine environment on La Palma and to promote collaboration among institutions.
BECOMAR “Rogelio Herrera”
BECOMAR “Rogelio Herrera” is a scientific-technical infrastructure dedicated to monitoring and studying the coastal ecosystems associated with La Palma’s lava deltas. It has laboratories, technical and logistics areas, spaces for research staff, and support facilities for marine, underwater and training activities.
The infrastructure was developed under the DELTA project, coordinated by PLOCAN and funded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands and the State Secretariat for the Environment of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
The new protocol will help reinforce the continued use of BECOMAR and advance its consolidation as a meeting point for marine research, innovation, training and knowledge transfer in La Palma.
