CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania, August 4, 2004 (ENS) – The Lenfest Foundation, Inc. announced Tuesday the establishment of the Lenfest Ocean Program, a six year, $20 million applied research initiative, to further understanding of the problems affecting the world's oceans and to promote the sustainable management of ocean resources.
"The conservation of ocean habitat is a vital part of the public trust, yet we know relatively little about life in the sea," said Gerry Lenfest, who chairs the Lenfest Foundation. "If we are to meet its responsibility as stewards of the oceans, we must increase our understanding of the problems affecting the world's marine environment, and move more aggressively to identify and implement solutions before it is too late. That is the goal of the Lenfest Ocean Program."
Established in 2000 by cable television billionaire H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest and his wife Marguerite, the Foundation is dedicated to supporting programs in the areas of education, arts and the environment.
The announcement of the new initiative comes at a time when scientists, fishermen, and policymakers are calling for increased support of ocean research.
The Congressionally mandated U.S. Oceans Commission will soon deliver its final report on U.S. ocean policy. The commission's draft study says U.S. ocean waters, coasts, and marine resources are in crisis from overfishing, pollution and coastal development, despite the government's patchwork of laws and bureaucracies.
The commission lays out some 200 recommendations for how the U.S. government should revamp and strengthen its commitment and framework for managing the oceans, including the need for a major research effort.
The federal budget for ocean research is only $755 million – less than four percent of nation's annual expenditure for basic scientific research.
Similar recommendations were laid out in a report released last year by the Pew Oceans Commission, an 18 member panel drawn from fields of marine science, commercial and recreational fishing, private industry, conservation, government and economics.
"Two national commissions and several groundbreaking scientific studies have given us the clearest picture yet of what pollution, development, over fishing, and mismanagement are doing to the oceans," said Margaret Bowman, director of the Lenfest Ocean Program, which has been established at The Pew Charitable Trusts. "The Lenfest Ocean Program will help to shed further light on some of the most critical marine issues facing policymakers in the upcoming years."
The Lenfest Program will produce and communicate a body of scientific, economic and technical information and recommendations that are geared toward informing and promoting the sustainable management of ocean resources.
It will focus on the ecosystem impacts of fishing, the socioeconomic impacts of current and proposed fishing regimes, and the ecosystem based management of marine systems.
The move reflects an increasing interest by the Lenfest Foundation in environmental issues. In 2004 the Foundation has also supported the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's conservation of ocean and wildlife habitat in the Chesapeake Bay, and the Earth Institute of Columbia University in its involvement in helping to achieve sustainable economies in rural sections of Africa and to develop practical solutions to reduce global warming.
Subscribe to Environment News Service for only $24 a year! http://www.ens-newswire.com/