by Arianna Caracciolo
MONACO. On the occasion of the award that was recently delivered to HSH Prince Albert II by Kerry Kennedy in the name of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, we like to recall the anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, assassinated 55 years ago on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dallas, Texas. The first hour after the shooting was a time of great confusion before the President’s death was announced. The event left a lasting impression on many worldwide. As with the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor before it and the September 11 attacks after it, asking “Where were you when you heard about President Kennedy’s assassination” would become a common topic of discussion. Five years later, in 1968, the president’s younger brother, the late attorney general and presidential candidate, the senator Robert F. Kennedy, was mortally shooted shortly after a live televised celebration from the stage of his headquarters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Robert Kennedy’s, (and to a lesser extent his older brother’s), ideas about using government authority to assist less fortunate peoples became central to American liberalism as a tenet of the “Kennedy legacy”. In the months and years after Robert F. Kennedy’s death, numerous roads, public schools, and other facilities across the United States have been named in his memory. Among them, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights was founded in 1968, with an international award program to recognize human rights activists. When President Kennedy moved into the White House in 1968, he stood for peace, justice and compassion. For 50 years, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation has been trying to create a world in line with the President’s ideals. It is precisely this foundation that, in its fiftieth anniversary awarded Prince Albert II in the Monaco’s Riva Tunnel, in the presence of 300 guests for his environmental work. During the Gala evening, Alessandro Benetton, Yoani Sánchez (Cuban journalist and blogger) and photographer Harry Benson (who photographed Princess Charlene for Life magazine) were also awarded. An auction was held during the evening to raise funds to help defend human rights around the world. Kerry Kennedy, President of the Foundation, said the foundation admires Prince Albert for his dedication to the protection of the environment, for his goal of making Monaco the greenest country on the planet and for the constant commitment of his Foundation. Indeed, since its creation in 2006 the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has been pursuing a number of projects, ranging from green energy to the protection of the oceans, to biodiversity, which is closely connected to it.
The FPA2 supports several projects initiators, like the Fondation Seguin in Haiti for risk and disaster prevention R. We like to recall that following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, the Monaco Collectif Haiti was created and the Prince Albert II School was opened for 300 children. As the school is integrated into a health centre each student receives personalized medical care.
The “La Visite National Park” in Haiti has to deal with many constraints such as DEFORESTATION that is destroying the habitat of endangered species, soil erosion that leads to landslides and flash flooding, and also poverty that could be reduced through the creation of economic activity.
As for the INCREASING KNOWLEDGE OF BIODIVERSITY, HSH the prince Albert is supporting the Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) of Monaco, Project Initiator in Mozambique, Madagascar, and Papua New Guinea. Assessment of world conservation requires information on the distribution of biodiversity throughout the world. The main goal is to explore the principal biodiversity hotspots of the planet, draw up an inventory of unknown animal and plant species and establish a reference state which can be reviewed in future years. About the CONSERVATION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES, in order to increase the numbers of seahorses in the Principality of Monaco, the Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard is introducing two species (Hippocampus guttulatus and Hippocampus hippocampus) into the Larvotto Reserve. The Paul Ricard Institute has expertise in the reproduction and breeding of these two species, and has brood stock sourced from Cavalaire (an area quite close to Monaco, natural genetic dispersal is not affected). The seahorses born here must reach the age of 10 months before being released, which means they are around 10 centimetres in length. The conditions for releasing seahorses require a site with the following characteristics: a depth of 5 to 15 metres, a not-too-dense bed of Posidonia, or even better, Cymodocea, and shelter from strong currents. The individuals quickly acclimatise to their new environment. Regular monitoring of the introduced populations is carried out to check their adaptation to their new habitat, in the hopes of noting the resilience of individuals and the presence of the first offspring produced by the reintroduction programme.
As for THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS a special look of the FPA2 is dedicatet to the sustainable and innovative waste management on the Mediterranean islands. The project consists in offering support for the activities of the Small Isalnd Organisation with regard to its technical support programme for effective waste management. The association provides technical support and champion concrete efforts among local players in 5 small Mediterranean isalnds in regard to sustainable waste management (Levant Island -France; Lavezzi Islands-France; Tavolara Island -Italy; Kerkennah Island- Tunisia; Sazani Island- Albania).
By working on several sources of waste, the aim is to promote and provide concrete support for the implementation of good waste management practice (awareness, reduced input, sorting, disposal, etc.) which can subsequently be replicated and adapted to other island areas in the Mediterranean and worldwide: domestic waste (inert waste, green waste), waste related to fishing, farming and tourist and yachting activities, and inert military waste. It is part of a broader sustainable certification initiative for small islands developed and initiated by the Coastal Conservatory, the Small Islands Organisation. FPA2 is focused over 30 projects on the DEVELOPMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGIES. Especially regarding Monaco, everybody know the The “PlanetSolar” expedition, the first global tour made by a boat powered exclusively by solar energy. The expedition left Monaco on September 27, 2010. Its purpose is to demonstrate the power and efficiency of solar energy and to create a new approach to solar mobility. The MS Turanor PlanetSolar sailed across all of the oceans and cast anchor in every continent. Boasting close to 537 square metres of photovoltaic modules, the catamaran is the largest solar boat ever built. 
Another crucial project is the MONACO ARCTIC CARBON OBSERVATORY. Monaco’s carbon observatory in the Arctic analyses the hydrography, carbon absorption and acidification of the shelf seas in the eastern Arctic. It also provides data and assessments for the stakeholders involved and the global scientific community. These observations are made possible thanks to the installation of state-of-the-art, stand-alone instruments aboard an observation vessel. Such data enable the scientists to identify critical tipping points of the Arctic climate and ecosystems which could have extremely serious socio-economic implications. In 2008 An interdisciplinary forum was set up to gauge what we know on ocean acidification and to define priorities for future research. The Monaco Declaration, cosigned by 155 scientists from 26 countries, outlines important recommendations for political decision-makers on the challenges surrounding ocean acidification. About THE INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES see also the Montecarlotimes post dated October 25 2018 by Giulia Chiuso. Last but not least, in this time afflicted by fires never seen before in California, by gales that have razed thousands of hectares of forest, destroying 14 million trees in Italy, PA2F many projects are specially studying CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS. Particularly, HSH the Prince is committed to light the existence of global awareness of the fragility of the polar environments and the urgent need to protect them. The Sovereign of Monaco Foundation supports the international Call Of the Poles Campaign, which aims at networking the political, scientific and artistic actions of key stakeholders in favour of improved governance of the Arctic and Antarctic Polar Regions.
