R3M Initiative

The RED MARINO MARÍTIMA MACARONÉSICA (Macaronesian Marine and Maritime Network) is an initiative aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of marine environment observation, in order to understand and predict both the phenomena that take place in it and the environmental and socioeconomic impacts these may entail.

The initiative is essentially inclusive and its main goal is to make all the observations carried out in the Macaronesian marine environment compatible and accessible, regardless of the institution or entity that carry them out. In addition, it seeks to encourage the involvement of the end users who are specific for each type of observation or location.

It’s essential to underline the regional integrator spirit from the Macaronesian area. The integration spreads over the instrumental approach, because the aim is to add and make available the historical observations of different platforms in the Macaronesian area, “in-situ” observations from both moored and drifting devices, on surface or undulate through the water column, and remote sensing carried out by satellite.

The R3M has been built “from base to top”, starting from the specific end users towards general users, while maintaining the goals established by national and international organisms and agencies. These focus on the understanding of the phenomena at a global scale. The obvious need to increase the quantity and quality of information has determined that the initiative is involved in the technological development of all types of required instruments and tools aiming to make them more accessible both on a technical and an economical point of view.