By assisting in the development of response plans, Sea Alarm helps governments, industry and NGOs to be better prepared to respond to oiled wildlife incidents. Pre-spill planning is the best guarantee that the objectives and strategies are clear, and that an identified management team can quickly mount an effective response with the necessary resources.
Effective oiled wildife response requires coordinated interactions between a variety of stakeholders, each with their own concerns and goals. Sea Alarm understands their needs. Being independent and impartial, we can initiate and assist with multi-stakeholder round table discussions on response plan development and help parties through constructive discussions to reach a consensus. Over time, the team has developed skills, insight and experience that can be applied on a global scale to progress wildlife response planning.
In-country planning
An oiled wildlife response plan is best developed as a process in which all key stakeholders (governments, NGOs, industry, veterinarians, scientists and local communities) are involved. A constructive atmosphere is needed in order to arrive at the best possible result. Training and exercises delivered during the planning process draw attention to common ground, from where all parties can start discussing how they can move forward together.
Sea Alarm has facilitated wildlife planning processes for many European countries, including Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. Although there are many generic elements, there is no blueprint that can be copied from one country to another. As an impartial outsider, Sea Alarm has the ability to moderate meetings between different stakeholders to define the common grounds for a wildlife response plan on the basis of which they can cooperate in oil spill incidents. Our Self-Assessment tool for authorities can support national planning processes, by providing an instrument for countries to benchmark their level of wildlife preparedness.