Mrs Maria del Mar OTERO VILLANUEVA

Marine Biodiversity and Blue Economy Manager, IUCN Center for Mediterranean Cooperation

Maria del Mar Otero is a marine conservationist that has worked for IUCN since 2008 and is nowadays the Marine Biodiversity and Blue Economy Manager. She works on conservation issues related to marine and coastal ecosystems, developing capacity building, facilitating knowledge transfer and networking. She has more than 20 years of experience in projects and initiatives on sustainable management of coastal systems (seagrasses, wetlands and estuaries), fishing bycatch and impacts on the Mediterranean environment, adaptation to climate change and Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean, blue carbon ecosystems (conservation, offsets and policy), implementation of invasive species strategy for MPAs and conservation action plans and assessments for vulnerable marine habitats and red list species.  She is also involved in other actions to transfer knowledge to national and international policies, PA management planning, natured based solutions and climate change.