The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology highlighted in Lajes do Pico the role of the Azores for the conservation of marine biodiversity in the world and, in particular, with regard to the conservation of several seabird species.
 
Fausto Brito e Abreu spoke at the presentation of the tern monitoring programme - Tern Census 2016. It aims to quantify the populations of the two main tern species nesting in the Azores, namely the common-tern (Sterna hirundo) and roseate tern (Sterna dougalii), an investment of about 10 thousand Euros.
 
"The Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs, financed the acquisition of optical equipment for the observation of birds, including 10 binoculars and four telescopes that will allow the counting of individuals in the most inaccessible colonies, particularly on coastal islets. It also signed a contract for the chartering of boats on the nine islands of the Azores to conduct this census," said Brito e Abreu.
 
The Regional Secretary stressed that "the involvement of the Government in these carries a dimension that goes beyond the scientific dimension," adding that "the Region is legally required to comply with the Birds Directive (Natura 2000) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the OSPAR Convention."
 
According to him, researchers estimate that about 50% of roseate pinks found in Europe nest in the Azores, where there than thirty colonies of this protected species. It "considered as one of the rarest 30 species in Europe and has been classified as endangered in terms of its conservation status."
 
"We are finding new colonies and last year the second largest colony of roseate terns in Europe, with about 600 couples, was discovered on Praia Islet near Graciosa island, the Regional Secretary said, stressing the importance of these censuses. They will be conducted from May 25 to June 10.
 
Brito e Abreu defended that "the Region plays a prominent role in the world with regard to marine conservation," pointing out, as example, the workshop that is taking place on São Miguel under Mistic 'Seas; the latter is a European project led by the Azores that aims to standardise methodologies and studies related to the evaluation of the populations of Atlantic several birds as well as sea turtles and cetaceans.
 
In 2015, the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs promoted a training on the monitoring of seabirds was carried out by researcher Verónica Neves (IMAR/DOP) with the aim of training Nature Watchers and technicians of Island Nature Parks for the effective organisation of monitoring campaigns of some seabird species that nest in the Azores, with special emphasis on terns.
 
This year, the researcher will monitor the census on some islands where colonies are denser and where both tern species coexist; this situation can make their distinction more difficult.
 
In the Azores, it is estimated that there are about 1,100 roseate tern couples and about 2,600 common tern couples, according to studies conducted between 2001 and 2012.
 
The main colonies of pink terns (75-80%) are located on the islands of Graciosa, Flores and Santa Maria.