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This building block fosters collaboration among diverse stakeholders to address the structural and systemic issues intersecting gender equality and environmental sustainability. Through activities such as training sessions, conflict management meetings, and leadership support, stakeholders from the gender sector (led by the Division of Gender) and the environmental sector (led by the Ministry of Fisheries) engage in cross-sectoral discussions to align objectives and integrate solutions. For example, fisheries stakeholders provide insights into resource management and illegal practices, while gender sector members contribute expertise on GBV prevention and response mechanisms. The initiative also influences policy by advocating for and supporting the revision of legal instruments like the Fisheries Act and the Anti-GBV Act of 2011, ensuring they address the unique challenges at this intersection. Additionally, technical support is provided for mainstreaming gender considerations in other sectors and integrating cross-cutting issues into broader policy frameworks. By aligning community-level efforts with institutional policies, this approach ensures scalable, sustainable, and contextually relevant interventions.

T his building block focuses on raising awareness and providing tailored gender training to highlight the interconnectedness of GBV, particularly exploitative practices like "sex for fish," and environmental degradation in the fisheries sector. With men dominating fish harvesting and women constituting 90% of post-harvest activities, the sector reveals stark gender dynamics. The initiative educates communities and stakeholders on how these transactional relationships exacerbate resource depletion, harm biodiversity, and perpetuate power imbalances between men and women. Using diverse forms of communication, such as roadshows, community dramas, and GBV Watch Committee activities, the project aims to transform perceptions, foster collaboration, and inspire action to address these interwoven challenges.

Capacity building, knowledge and information sharing to address the marine invasive alien species threats are of major importance in terms of protecting marine ecosystems. 

The project initiated national scale capacity building activities via a scientific conference, which was organized between 21-23 November 2022 in Antalya, to discuss how to overcome the adverse impact of marine invasive alien species on ecology, livelihoods, economy and public health in Türkiye. Bringing together all the stakeholders working in this field, the conference served as a platform to share information on the ecological and economic effects of marine invasive species and the activities to eradicate, mitigate, and control them in the country and at a global level. Presentations by renowned experts focused on the destruction caused by lionfish, water hyacinth, rapa whelk and other species. This conference also acted as one of the significant steps towards developing the national policy in combating these species, as the solutions discussed at the conference stood out to guide enhancing the resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems. MarIAS project also organized a follow-up International Symposium on Ballast Water and Biofouling Management in Invasive Alien Species Prevention and Control on 28-30 November 2023 in Antalya.

The Turkish National Invasive Alien Species Data and Information System (TurIST) has been designed in line with the findings of the conferences and stakeholder consultations and launched in 2024 as a database covering 181 different species, to help scientists and policymakers by showing where invasive alien species are congregating and measuring the ecological, economic and social damage they cause. TurIST is expected to facilitate international cooperation to enable joint action aimed at solving the common problem. The real-time database will continuously receive data from fishers and local NGOs to provide experts and policymakers with up-to-date information. 

In the meantime, Biosecurity and Quarantine Mechanisms Guidelines were produced for critical sectors, and serial trainings were held for fishers, divers, and marine transport sector representatives with the participation of governmental institutions, Turkish Coast Guard, NGOs, and local communities at the pilot sites, including fishermen, Central Union of Fisheries Cooperatives, divers, aquaculture, commercial boating, and maritime transport sector representatives, and the Women Fishing Association. The trainings aimed to increase knowledge and awareness on IAS threats, impacts, mitigation measures, and best practices.

The project also invested in raising awareness of invasive alien species in schools and the preparation of primary and secondary school lesson plans. In the 2022-2023 academic year, around 9,000 students working with 300 teachers were reached, highlighting the adverse effects caused by marine invasive alien species on ecology, economy and public health. 

This building block focuses on the establishment of strong partnerships between academic institutions (Universidad Politécnica de Yucatán), local governments (Secretaría de Desarrollo de Sustentable del Estado de Yucatán), and conservation organizations (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), private sector (Huawei), and local communities (Dzilam de Bravo) to enhance the collection and analysis of biodiversity data, access to technological infrastructure, government program instrumentation and application, and local ownership and execution.

This building block provides the essential spatial intelligence for PyroSense, enabling a dynamic understanding of the geographical landscape. Its core purpose is to identify fire risk areas, pinpoint incident locations, and visualize resource deployment. This is crucial for strategic decision-making, allowing proactive resource allocation, and response planning. 

PyroSense utilizes a robust Geographic Information System (GIS) to power this function. The GIS integrates various spatial data layers, including topography, vegetation, infrastructure, etc. Initially, baseline risk maps are created by analyzing factors, guiding the placement of sensors and cameras.

Upon detection of a potential fire by environmental sensors or AI, the system immediately feeds the precise coordinates into the GIS. This real-time location data, combined with meteorological data (local and satellite), enables dynamic risk assessments. The GIS also serves as a central operational dashboard, visualizing the real-time positions of all deployed assets, including drones and first responder teams. This facilitates optimal resource allocation and coordination. This critical information is then communicated via a web application to stakeholders, providing clear visual situational awareness and supporting informed decision-making. 

This is the comprehensive intake mechanism for all information vital to PyroSense's platform. Its purpose is to gather real-time data, from multiple origins, ensuring the system has the input needed for accurate analysis and effective decision-making. 

PyroSense integrates an agnostic and highly compatible array of data:

1. Environmental IoT Sensors are strategically deployed, and continuously collect real-time CO2, temp. and humidity data. They are agnostic in type and protocol, compatible with MQTT, LoRa, Sigfox, and NBIoT, ensuring broad integration. For efficiency, they feature long-lasting batteries (up to 10 years), minimising maintenance.  

2. Fixed cameras and drones capture high-resolution images and live video. Integrated Vision AI processes this visual data in real-time to detect anomalies like smoke or fire. 

3. PyroSense gathers data from local weather stations and satellites. Combining granular local data with broad satellite coverage provides a comprehensive understanding of current weather.

4. GIS provides foundational spatial information, including maps of terrain, vegetation,  infrastructure, etc. 

5. Firemen Wearables monitor real-time biometrics. AI enhances data for risk pattern recognition, of fatigue or heat stress. Real-time alerts are sent to nearby teams or control centers, enabling proactive intervention.

Once plants have been collected, they are transferred to our conservation nursery for propagation, or to our seed lab for viability testing and storage. We are seeing increased effectiveness of these methods with freshly collected seeds and cuttings making it quickly to our staff. As many of these individual plants were not previously known, these actions boost the genetic diversity of ex-situ collections, providing a safe place in the face of environmental degradation.

The Mamba tool allows us to collect plant material via seeds or cuttings from endangered species that we have identified and mapped in the previous building block. This tool has an effective range well over 1000m, making even the most inaccessible areas available for management actions. 

Drone tools have been instrumental as a first step in the assessment of cliff floras. Using drones to get unique viewpoints of these environments, we can now map the distribution and abundance of critically endangered endemic cliff species and expedite their conservation. Field surveys have been conducted in Hawaii, the Republic of Palau, and Madeira (Portugal) with extremely positive results.