Studying and protecting the Ocean means taking care of the global system of our planet
Our future depends on the good health of the Ocean.
The Tara Ocean Foundation, the first foundation in France to be recognised as promoting the public interest and devoted to the ocean, is developing an innovative and unprecedented open science which should enable prediction and better planning for the impact of climate change.
It uses this very high level scientific expertise to raise awareness and educate young people, to mobilise political decision makers and enable developing countries to access this new knowledge.
The schooner Tara is a floating laboratory that has already covered more than 570 000 kilometres since 2003, stopping off in more than 60 countries on 12 expeditions carried out in collaboration with the best international laboratories and organisations (CNRS, CEA, EMBL, PSL, MIT, NASA, etc.).
Their partner laboratories have produced more than 200 publications in renowned international scientific journals.
Since their official deployment in 2015 by the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute a global framework which guides all actions of the Tara Ocean Foundation, especially through SDG 14 (life below water) to “conserve and sustainably manage our Oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. This translates concretely into the Tara expeditions and research carried out by our partner laboratories; educational and awareness-raising actions with schools and general public; advocacy work with institutions and stakeholders; and cooperation projects with developing countries.
The Tara Ocean Foundation is also actively mobilized on:
SDG 4 – Quality education – SDG 5 – Gender equality – SDG 11 – Cities and sustainable communities
SDG 13 – Measures relating to the fight against climate change – SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
Become an artist-in-residence aboard the schooner Tara
To encourage exploration and sharing, each of the schooner’s missions creates a meeting and exchange between sailors, scientists and artists. Via our expeditions, the Tara Ocean Foundation not only helps build scientific knowledge.
Your students will discover current environmental challenges, will be actors in the experimental approach using real data, and will understand the research professions.
Structure of the Arctic OceanAnalysis of plankton DNAMelting of Arctic sea ice
In the 5th “A Porthole on the Ocean” podcast, we want to introduce you to Sarah Auffret, a polar explorer, committed to the planet and the struggle against plastic pollution, who sadly died in a tragic accident.
Climb aboard the schooner Tara and discover the secret world of coccolithophores What are coccolithophores? What do they look like? Why are they so important for us?
France Culture records the meetings of minds of two guests from different backgrounds, but with complementary concerns: the writer and academician Erik Orsenna, one of the sponsors of the Tara Ocean Foundation, and the oceanographer and biologist Gilles Boeuf, president of the scientific council of the French agency for biodiversity, and professor at the Sorbonne.
A schooner designed for scientific research and defence of the environment. The Tara has been sailing the seas and oceans of the world since 1989 to discover the ocean floor.
