The Plankt’eco Project

The Plankt’eco project participants at Camp Nature in Senegal

The Plankt’Eco project aims to address the need for knowledge on planktonic ecosystems and their integration into fisheries and climate research. It is a knowledge-sharing and scientific collaboration program between countries in South America, West Africa, and Europe. This project seeks to contribute to an integrated management of marine ecosystems by developing new monitoring and management methodologies and sharing them with policymakers and the general public.

Plankt’Eco aims to develop management tools to operationalize plankton ecosystem science by introducing a new framework for fisheries stock prediction models that incorporate plankton communities, making it an identified and widely used tool. It also seeks to establish a methodology for identifying key plankton zones, serving as a reference for monitoring the ocean’s health.

Plankt’Eco also plans to implement new operational observation techniques and skills through an imaging equipment platform in Senegal, managed by a consortium of West African research institutions. The project includes capacity-building initiatives for academic and scientific institutions in the Senegal-Mauritania region, which borders the Canary Current upwelling. Throughout the project, the goal is to develop new research projects focused on understanding plankton ecosystems tailored to regional and local research challenges.

For young people and students, Plankt’Eco collaborates with associations to develop awareness and citizen science initiatives using innovative tools to explore the invisible world of plankton. The goal is to raise public awareness of the key role plankton plays in the cycle of life on Earth.

For Plankton Planet, this is a collaborative project with the Senegalese association Nebeday, which aims to raise awareness and train local populations in the preservation of their natural resources. The project is funded by the French Global Environment Facility and coordinated by the Tara Foundation.

Anna Oddone and Noan Le Bescot spent two weeks in Dakar and the Sine Saloum region. They provided a set of seven Curiosity microscopes to the Nebeday team for plankton observation. They also led educational workshops and trained local facilitators in their use. Additionally, they will develop educational materials and tools adapted to local populations, including guides, explanatory sheets, videos, and more.

The plankton observed during the project