OceanPact has launched the Rio-Belém Expedition, a research journey in partnership with the Rio de Janeiro-based Urban Sea Institute and NatureMetrics. Aboard the sailboat Endurance, researchers and company professionals departed from Rio on Tuesday, October 14, bound for COP30 in Belém, Pará in order to expand knowledge about Brazilian marine biodiversity.

The crew has already collected samples from Rio’s Guanabara Bay, a symbolic and resilient ecosystem, before continuing to Arraial do Cabo Marine Extractive Reserve, farther north in Rio de Janeiro State, where natural resources of high ecological and economic value will be evaluated. The route will also include Fernando de Noronha Island and Rocas Atoll, seeking data to study the impact of invasive species. It will then proceed to the Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park in Maranhão. Before concluding in Belém, the expedition will visit the mangroves of Pará, the largest continuous mangrove forest in the country and one of the most productive on the planet, which are fundamental for fishing, climate balance and coastal protection.

You can track the vessel’s route in real time at cop30.oceanpact.com.