July 2022
The Southern African Research & Innovation Management Association is active in the SADC region to develop capacity and recognise the professionalisation of research and innovation management. We support this initiative in the promotion of ethical and environmentally responsible research and innovation practices.
Dear SARIMA member,
We are reaching out to you as volunteers for the Parvati Foundation, a nonprofit that urges people around the world pay attention to the crisis in the Arctic Ocean that affects all life on Earth. As the Arctic ice vanishes and the global consequences multiply, there is still a window of opportunity to avert total catastrophe. However, an immediate response is required, measured in weeks and months rather than years. We believe this can be achieved through the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS).
MAPS will safeguard the entire area north of the Arctic Circle as the world’s largest marine sanctuary. It prohibits commercial tourism, fishing, oil and gas activity, shipping, militarization and dumping of waste that destroys the sea ice, makes the permafrost disappear, reviving buried pathogens, and threatens to cause large scale methane eruptions. MAPS is the only initiative to include protection of the coastal waters where the majority of exploitation takes place. The science is clear that protecting the Arctic High Seas is not enough to protect life on Earth. As Yvo de Boer, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says, “MAPS is the only sane choice for the critically vulnerable Arctic ecosystem, for the sake of our seas, our atmosphere and all life.”
We urgently need scientists from all disciplines including students to join us in educating the public about this emergency, so we can mobilize world leaders and the public to protect the Arctic Ocean and our shared future. We must help shine a light on the irrefutable scientific evidence showing that MAPS is essential.
We are now circulating an Open Letter to be endorsed by scientists and students to voice their support of MAPS — please see this link to the Open letter:
https: https://signmaps.org/scientists-letter-for-maps/
We ask that you please add your name to the Open Letter and join the growing number of scientific luminaries including Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Roger Payne who have endorsed MAPS as well as 26 Nobel Prize Laureates who have signed the letter. We also kindly ask you to share the letter within your scientific network.
Thank you for supporting a healthy world!
Sincerely,
Kaya Agu – MAPS Ambassador
Rina Barouch-Bentov, PhD. & Karen Ho, MD. – Alliances Coordinator Co-Lead
Parvati Foundation
