Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Peru is a megadiverse country and has one of the most productive seas in the world. Despite its potential richness as a site for extensive marine research, exploitative industries dominate its waters, with guano and anchoveta being some of the most lucrative and significant to the global market. To a foreign audience, Peru is not often thought of for the biodiversity of its oceans and coast, and sometimes, this is invisible to its own population. With increased threats from climate change and El Nino impacts, and less than 4% of its water with a protected status, it runs the risk of running its own resources dry. However, small and locally focused marine conservation projects have been researching the ocean, its species spanning over the past 40 years and working to develop a marine conservation ethic from the ground up in a place with extensive barriers to education and training, funding, and policy framework. This project took interviews with 20 leaders of these small projects and used qualitative analysis of their response to identify top challenges of funding, fishermen relationships, and a lack of educational training. Top needs were identified as the importance of staying in one place for site monitoring, improving collaborations with fishermen, and improving the livelihood of the communities in which they research. With these themes in mind, small steps are provided that could support their sustainability, recognition, and capacity.