The Oceanário de Lisboa and the Oceano Azul Foundation, in collaboration with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and with the support of the Lisbon City Council (CML), are developing the new “Red Book of Marine Fishes of Portugal ”

This production’s main objective is to gather and update as much information as possible to improve the conservation of species. The only book of its kind published in Portugal was produced in 1992/993, and this revision and update is urgent, “especially at a time when the world is facing a climate crisis and species extinction, and to preserve biodiversity and marine life it becomes critical to know the threat levels to which each type is determined”, they explain as entities.

This book will be a decisive tool that will allow us to aim for better protection and conservation in the Portuguese sea. The book is expected to be completed in 2023 and subsequently published.

CML signed a protocol in July, in which it secured funding of 100,000 euros to support this project, an amount that will make it possible to advance with the investigation and discovery of information about various species. José Sá Fernandes, Councilor for the Environment, Green Structure, Climate and Energy of Lisbon City Council, clearly “this is the way in which Lisbon contributes and boosts scientific research and the umbilical relationship it has always had with the sea ”.

João Falcato, CEO of Oceanário de Lisboa, considers that the Red Book of Marine Fish of Portugal “is critical for the preservation of biodiversity, guaranteeing the scientific knowledge that can support the decisions required to protect marine species. Therefore, it is very important that the Oceanário can continue to make a significant contribution to the conservation of the Ocean. (…) The support given by the Municipality of Lisbon was essential, at this time of greater financial difficulty, for us to be able to start this critical and ambitious project, which we hope that more entities will join. ”

Through its work, the Oceanário de Lisboa has also contributed to the conservation of the ocean. Since 2018, through a partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and by integrating a species survival officer in his team, he has already collaborated in the identification of more than 700 species, which represents about 20% of the marine species evaluated internationally.