We find ourselves moved to action on behalf of oceans.  As social scientists, agroforesters and entrepreneurs--as well as a family of divers and mariners--we request your guidance and referral while building a Coral Reef Transect aboard sailing Research Vessel Llyr .  We also offer this venture as a resource for collaborative efforts. We recognize the need for a broad array of professional and public actions forming a collective response to the accelerating environmental crises at hand.
 

At BSG-Maple & Marine we explore relationships between wild perennial ecosystems and the people who interact with them.  We research, develop and apply models of harvesting, processing, and market alternatives in the interest of supporting biocultural diversity. Our theories and practices are based on principles which hold that biological and cultural domains are both inextricably linked and co-condition one another. We use a range of investigative frames to structure a question informing a bedrock of sustainability:  In what ways do our actions build, stabilize or deplete biocultural diversity?

Agroforestry activities at BSG Maple & Marine have matured with strong and enthusiastic direct markets along this Eastern seaboard.  We are now expanding research and labor from forest to ocean, with a “ridge-to-reef” conservation project:  a Coral Transect aboard 53' blue-water steel ketch, R/V Llyr.  Coral reefs are widely considered the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecosystem services in all categories; yet, the World Resources Institute, among others, reports that threats to reefs have only increased in speed and intensity this last decade.  This conservation action will originate in New England, move on to the Caribbean basin and then yoyage into the Pacific towards a destination work-site in the Western Pacific.  The success of the transect will hinge upon developing strong ties to partners, resources and opportunities both locally and globally.

Llyr is documented with Coast Guard as a Registry Vessel for Oceanographic Research. We have undertaken her full refit ourselves and she currently moors in Salem, MA.  R/V Llyr is an elegant, heavy displacement steel ketch, part yacht, part work boat.  In addition to scientific benefits of the pace and characteristics of sailing, she is equipped with features able to support a range of research and applied activities: shallow draft, broad beam with large fore and aft deck space, sunlit spaciousness, berth capacity for 9 including two available private double berths with full desks and superb storage, 2 heads with large project sinks, long distance fuel and water tankage, dive facilities, a suite of state-of-the-art heavy weather sails, updated electronics and space for additional equipment.

Current plans have R/V Llyr in Salem until Spring 2012--after maple harvesting--while we develop contacts, collaborations and funding options to complement our agroforestry's robust capacity to support this project.  We will then move seasonally along a scheduled transect through Caribbean and then Pacific waters. Following are some of our working visions for a coral transect aboard R/V Llyr:

1. Our doctoral trainings in cultural anthropology, psychology/psychoanalysis and joint undergraduate degrees in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic equip us with frameworks, strategies and tools to broker across disciplines, settings and worldviews.  This transect will include both qualitative and quantitative data collection using well established methodologies. Strategies for engaging public resistance to a changing world and emerging risks are key areas of professional interest.  Janis' background in film production and indigenous cinema also direct us towards visual media and documentary.
   
   
   

2. We advocate for a broad alliance of ongoing ocean and coral transects involving mariners and divers as culture brokers who bridge between coastal communites and their reefs, and the far flung, impacting public in the following ways: 
   
   a ) responding to the need for increased data monitoring by employing citizen science for in-situ measurements of parameters such as temperature, pH, salinity, light levels and indicator species;
   
   
   b ) supporting and serving local educational and public efforts towards reef resilience and restoration;
   
   
   c ) documenting for wider audiences the benefits of standing behind innovative economic strategies which enhance biocultural diversity and offer viable alternatives to market practices which lead to over-fishing, habitat destruction and other damaging behaviors.
   
   
   
   

3. Llyr is available as a floating brokerage for consultations, professional supervision, workshops and creative projects between scientists, writers, artists, non-profits, and the public in order to seek narrative and communicative means to bridge divides between land and sea, cultures and the environment. This includes recognition of the importance and potential of collaboration between local knowledge and traditions and scientific knowledge.
   
   
   

4. Llyr is both a  mobile and virtual classroom, available to engage young people and encourage their enthusiasm for conservation work. With our three sons active in the project, Llyr offers multi-generational engagement and direct youth outreach, as well as unique opportunities for apprenticeship and appplied learning.  We understand that, in these times, young people have been placed at the greatest risk;  yet, they also have the greatest capacity to imagine and create necessary cultural changes. 
   
   
   

5. We will extend our experience and findings at BSG-farm to investigate and advance unique market strategies anchored in " variance " which build and stabilize biocultural diversity. 
    

6. We will link ridge-to-reef through agroforestry at BSG-Farm, promoting public awareness and conservation actions including business sponsorships, non-profit alliances and engagine the farms' extensive and dedicated East-coast direct-market relationships.
   
   
   

7. We will integrate these efforts with a to-be-determined terminus worksite in the Western Pacific that will complement ongoing activities through BSG-Maple & Marine and serve as both marker and beacon across this transect and among its numerous collaborators.
   
   
   We appreciate your consideration of this project and would be grateful for any guidance and/or referral.  If you would like to explore collaboration, we are also ready to work with you to specify and tailor the numerous concrete means by which these activities could integrate with and support your efforts and goals.
   
   Warm regards,
   
   Janis & Brooks