Youth and Indigenous Voices on Ocean Stewardship | Ocean Decade Conference 2024
Blue Climate Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance are excited to host a panel of indigenous and youth speakers from across the globe who will speak about how we can integrate indigenous and youth views with ocean science, at a side event of the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona.
We will host Nat Geo Explorer Sheena Talma from the Seychelles, Athanasia Hatzis and fellow rangers from Northern Land Council, Alexandre da Silva from Sustainable Ocean Alliance Brazil, and Gabriel Akoko Juma from Kenya and Germany.
When: Tuesday April 9th from 3pm-4:30pm, at the fabulous venue that is the Museu Marítim de Barcelona.
First come first serve - no pre-registration required.
We can't wait to see you there !
More about our panelists
Speaker 1 : Sheena Talma, Marine Biologist and Nat Geo Explorer, Seychelles
Sheena Talma is a marine biologist from the Seychelles, her work focuses on deep-sea ecosystems, fisheries and genetics. As a freelance consultant she works with several organizations both within her home country and intentionally. Sheena is a NatGeo Explorer, an Ocean Voices Fellow and also serves as a part-time lecturer at the University of Seychelles.
Sheena finds the most joy in working within the science to policy nexus and highlighting the relationship between nature and humans. She aspires to work with collaborators to garner more deep-sea scientists within the Western Indian Ocean Region and to further highlight the need for science to be led by a diverse group of partners.
Speaker 2 : Northern Land Council delegation: Athanasia Hatzis as main speaker, with input from Davin Hall, Teresa Burr Burr, Preston Wurramara
Athanasia Hatzis has been working with the Northern Land Council for 2 years. She works with the Numbulwar and Yugul Mangi rangers, along with a committee of Traditional Owners, on developing the marine Indigenous Protected Area. This has included building rangers’ capacity for marine management, and initiating projects such as seagrass monitoring and cultural mapping.
Athanasia will be accompanied by 3 rangers who will be contributing from the floor: Preston Wurramara has been a ranger with the Northern Land Council’s Numbulwar Numburindi rangers for 3 years. He has been working with the ranger group and Traditional Owners to extend their current Indigenous Protected Area to include the sea country that is culturally important for his local community.
Hall has been with the Northern Land Council’s Yugul Mangi Rangers for 1 year. Like Preston, he is also working on having sea country incorporated into their current Indigenous Protected Area. Through the ranger program, he has been working on upskilling to build local capacity to undertake land and sea management in the region.
Teresa Burr Burr has been a ranger with The Northern Land Council’s Bulgul Rangers for 5 years, and is one of two women in the ranger group. Teresa takes a lot of pride in being is being able to look after country, including the sea. Her ranger group works on biosecurity, marine debris clean ups and culture camps with local students.
Speaker 3 : Alexandre da Silva, Brazil
Alexandre is the founding director of the Tatauga Dive Association. He is an engineer specialized in project management, with a postgraduate degree in Business Administration and Strategic Management. Currently pursuing a master's degree in Ocean Science and Technology, Alexandre is also an entrepreneur, scuba diving instructor, and environmental educator. He has developed socio-educational projects for youth in vulnerable situations in coastal areas and possesses extensive experience in project management within the energy and public utility services sectors.
Speaker 4 : Gabriel Akoko, Kenya
Gabriel Akoko is currently a PhD in Coastal Ecology student at Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Bremen. He also supports training activities for the ECOPs in collaboration with Ocean Teacher Global Academy of the IOC UNESCO and is a Hub Leader of SOA Germany.