Blue Incubator
Leveraging marine conservation through entrepreneurship
Considering marine conservation as a complex system with environmental, economic, and social components, BlueSeeds works on leveraging marine conservation through entrepreneurship. Social acceptability, long-term planning, and efficiency of conservation activities sometimes represent obstacles for marine protected areas.
BlueSeeds works at two levels: at the local scale, with the replication of Blue Local Incubators, and at the regional scale, with the implementation of solutions such as BlueMooring.org.
Locally, Blue Local Incubators are part of a community-based entrepreneurship support process that aims at reinforcing the economic attractiveness of a territory, by fostering a circular economy, e.g. through eco-tourism, organic farming, waste collection, or soft mobility.
First implemented on the island of Lastovo in Croatia, in partnership with the team of WWF Adria, a Blue Local Incubator was essential in the rise of five green entrepreneurs.
Regionally, the goal of a project like BlueMooring.org is to reinforce the capabilities of MPAs to manage their mooring park, in order to give them more resources for their conservation activities. Following the test phase, BlueSeeds will scale up this initiative to promote eco-mooring for boaters and thus preserve the endangered bottom habitat: Posidonia meadows.
Adèle is a marine biologist and an environmental economist. She has worked for 20 years in Mauritius where she specialized in the management of tropical marine resources and ecosystems. She is the Director of Operations of BlueSeeds and the project coordinator of the Blue Incubator.
Partners
- Develop entrepreneurship that generates long-term positive environmental, social, and economic impacts on marine conservation sites, following the first development in Lastovo (Croatia), with WWF Adria.
- Develop a local entrepreneurial spirit, in order to promote the creation of small businesses. Encourage people to become active stakeholders in the protection of marine and coastal biodiversity.
- Reallocate human and financial resources away from fee collection towards conservation activities.
- Reinforce the social acceptability of MPAs by local stakeholders and to tourists.
Budget (total) : 688,096€
