4 May 2021 news
Alexei Bambulyak from Akvaplan-niva participated in a panel and a presentation on MALINOR, DIMARC and ArcToMal projects at the first webinar in a webinar series on Marine Litter in the Barents Sea arranged by GRID-Arendal and Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU). Other panelists were Denis Moiseev (MMBI), Marthe Larsen Haarr (SALT) and Amy Lusher (NIVA).
This webinar series bring researchers and stakeholders together to explore the problem of marine litter in the Barents Sea. Experts share information on tools and technologies for mapping and monitoring, ways to identify sources of marine litter, and prospects for international collaboration. The webinars also cover action plans to address the marine litter challenge and recommendations from the Arctic Council working groups and discuss their relevance and application in the Barents Sea region. Participants in the webinars have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in interactive polls.
The first webinar, called 'Marine litter problem in the Barents Sea: What do we know about the state and sources of marine litter, and what are the knowledge gaps?' was held on 22ndof April 2021. Denis Moiseev, Research Director of Murmansk Marine Biological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (MMBI) gave a key-note speech on 'Marine Litter and Microplastic in the Barents Sea' highlighting joint Norwegian-Russian activities within OCEAN-5 (HAV-5) and MALINOR projects. Marthe Larsen Harr presented SALT's work on litter sampling on beaches in the Northern Norway and north of Novaya Zemlya, as well as in the Russian Barents Sea offshore. Amy Lusher from NIVA gave a talk about microplastic in the Barents Sea and joint research cruises across the Eurasian Arctic seas. Alexei Bambulyak from Akvaplan-niva spoke about Norwegian-Russian research collaboration and innovative litter mapping solutions in the MALINOR, ArcToMal and DIMARC projects led by Akvaplan-niva.
The second and third episodes of the webinar series will be held on May 27th and June 10th 2021.
About the MALINOR project:
MALINOR (Mapping marine litter in the Norwegian and Russian Arctic Seas) is a Norwegian-Russian research project funded by the Research Council of Norway NORRUSS Pluss programme. DIMARC (Detecting, identifying and mapping plastic in the Arctic using robotics and digital solutions) is financed by the Norwegian Retailers' Environmental Fund. ArcToMal (Arctic tourism in the Barents Sea – awareness and participation for marine litter prevention) is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment collaboration with Russia programme.
MMBI, SALT and GRID-Arendal are our partners in the MALINOR project. Akvaplan-niva also has several joint plastic projects with NIVA.
