"Ruta Ecologica" Beach clean up in Sian Ka'an, working with CONANP, Ford and Televisa Verde

Hi all,

What a day we had yesterday! After our morning chores on base (for the Pez Mayans) and a earlier than normal wake up (for the guys from the Mexico Regional Office) we all got to the Boca Paila Bridge ready to take part in the Ecological Route finale; a massive beach clean in the Reserve of Sian Ka'an - some of us where then taken to Pta Yu Yum and some stayed around the bridge to simultaneously clean these two areas.
Even though we carry out a weekly beach clean up in Pez Maya, it's always good to spread our love and energy in other clean ups. And this initiative by Ford, Televisa Verde and CONANP was well worth it.
The Ruta Ecologica is a tour of 10 of the most ecologically important areas/reserves of Mexico. As you all know, Mexico is one of the most biodiverse countries in Planet Earth, representing and estimate 12% of the world biodioversity (interesting fact is that if you combine the 5 megadiverse countries of the world - China, India, Colombia, Peru and Mexico - between 60-70% of the Earth's biodiversity can be observed!).
The aim of the route was to showcase this incredible biodiversity and to increase public awareness on the most pressing issues that the visited areas are facing. The route was also a way to show to the main public the new Ford Escape Hybrid (97% less emisions than a normal vehicle and 23km/l, which allows a 885 km with a full tank!)
After visiting Pico Orizaba, Sonora, Gulf of California or the Sea of Cortes, the route's final stop was out our home ground, Sian Ka'an, and since one of the main issues affecting this incredible reserve is the amount of rubbish washed daily to our shores, it was decided to organize a big beach clean up.
Local and national organizations and companies took part on this event, such as CONANP, Televisa Verde, Ford, CESIAK and our own Amigos de Sian Ka'an, and of course GVI. During the morning a total of 35 big bin bags we filled with all sorts of rubbish, from plastics, shoes, flip-flops, bottles, many dolls and even a fridge!
Televisa Verde filmed the event (as soon as we know when it will be broadcasted we will let you know) and interviewed several volunteers and staff members.

We hope this events increases everyone's awareness of the problems our ecosystems face and that we all realize that we can all help and do our bit to reduce the issue of solid waste disposal (remember the 3Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle!!)

Beach clean up at Punta Yu Yum, Pez Maya

On Thursday , 2nd of July, a group of GVI Mexico volunteers and staff will join the gran Beach Clean finale organized by CONANP, Televisa Verde (National Mexican TV), Ford Group and Amigos de Sian Ka'an.
The beach clean up in Sian Ka'an is the last of a series of events aimed at promoting Mexican Protected Areas. Sian Ka'an, being one of the largest and most diverse of them was chosen to host this final event. Other areas include Cajón del Diablo in Sonora, El Vizcaíno in Baja California and La Primavera Forest in Jalisco,

As part of our ongoing commitment to protect and conserve the areas where we work, GVI will join forces with our local partners and contribute with the energy, work and sweat of 30 volunteers and staff members.

GVI on Twitter

Hi guys, A new development in the GVI Cyber-World is what we would like to share with you guys today...GVI is on Twitter!!!
Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Join today to start receiving GVIWORLD's updates.

So here it is...got on to it and spread to word! http://twitter.com/gviworld

Lion fish spotted in Pez Maya

As we have been reporting, Lion Fish are spreading through the Mexican Caribbean. On one of the last dives of last phase, a group of Expedition Members spotted a lion fish at the Gardens Dive site, just off Pez Maya, and one of our regular dive and training sites. This sightings has been reported to the authorities and we will continue to monitor the progress of this invasive species.

1st Geographical Information Systems (GIS) graduates in GVI Mexico!

Last week 11 students including staff from Punta Gruesa & Pez Maya expeditions, the GVI Regional Office and locals from Mahahual successfully accomplished a 40 hour ArcGIS course for Environmental Analysis. The course,instructed by John Schaeffer from Juniper GIS, was a very intense but useful and very interesting insight into the GIS world!.

Using different environmental scenarios we worked with ArcMap, ArcCatalog and Arctools and learnt the basics and pretty complex tools too.

Our brains are still hurting but now we are able to create maps to locate and analyze the compiled data from our Marine Expeditions or simply create a map to make it home!! We would like to cheer all the GIS graduates and thank John, Patty and Paul from JuniperGIS for their time and patience teaching us.

We are also very much looking forward the Costa Rica GIS course (this September - http://www.gvi.co.uk/courses/central-america/costa-rica/GIS-course-costa-rica/home) which will be for sure very useful, interesting and fun!

Pez Maya April-June 2009 Chatty Report

Pez Maya 092 - Chatty Report

Pta Gruesa Chatty Report April - June 2009

Pta Gruesa 092 - Chatty Report

The Home Stretch or Things Turning Up on the Beach

Things have been turning up on the Pez Mayan beach the past few weeks. The Least Terns have settled in, constantly in flight protecting their nests of small speckled eggs. Passers by duck to avoid the swooping birds, they work together fending off larger birds of prey. Two weeks ago, just after boat push, as the first dive was kitting up, we found a dead Southern Sting Ray washed up on the beach just beyond the Sand Pit. The Mahahualians were still here, it was incredibly hot and the sand flies were brutally chewing away at our ankles leaving tiny liquid filled swells that would either disappear or turn to scars. The sting ray was larger than I expected it to be, its massive body dense and clammy, it must have washed up on shore only hours ago. We loomed over it, Tim A.K.A. Fish lifted it up and flipped it over, and we again marvelled at the details of the gills, the small mouth, the sand paper quality of the skin. A few days later walking along the beach, past the closed mouth of the lagoon, along the roped off areas protecting the tiny nests, barely before the army base, on our way to a party that never happened, in the dark walking along the beach, Lizzy almost put her foot through a half buried mildly decomposed Southern Sting Ray carcass.

A few days later… It was around 6:15am when we found him. Lying on his side, head cocked awkwardly on the ground, his eyes alertly followed our every move. His body convulsed as he tried to move from the wet sand dividing the sea and the shore, even more so when Jaen grasped under the little heron's wings, delicately extending one at a time, examining for the slightest abnormality. All we found was a thumbtack sized wound hidden on the back of his neck. Rocco has made it to day 6 so far surpassing all odds, living in a small box lined with old clothes outside Jaen's hut, fed early in the morning with fish or crab shake through a plastic syringe.

While doing one of the dives we found a tailless fish. It was clear, the fish had no tail. Standing in less than a foot of water, weighed down with dive gear, we watched as the fish unsuccessfully struggled on its side to make it back out to deeper water. Urgency, panic and fear gleamed unmistakably in its eyes as the torn silver body fought its way out to sea. After minutes of watching the ever losing battle, we handed our gear up to the captain. Mike saved the Permit from its suffering, as we later found upon returning to base later in the afternoon.

Stand by 67

Spawning Aggregation of Reef fishes

To all our blog followers that may have read the article about Fish Aggregations last year, we are very glad to inform that this week our main partners Amigos de Sian Ka’an AC (ASK) went again to Punta Allen community in the Sian Ka’an reserve in order to continue with the Spawning Aggregation of Reef Fishes (SPAGS) project which started last year and is having very promising results!

SPAGS are brief events where many reef fishes, including larger species of commercial interest, gather in high densities to reproduce (spawn). This is a very important project for ASK and GVI as these events take place only a few limited months of the year, and within each month of occurrence, aggregations typically remain from few days to few weeks, entrained to the lunar cycle. Some species migrate long distances to the aggregation sites. Groupers, Snappers and Jacks are examples of fish groups showing this behaviour. Spawning aggregations are quite important to sustain many fish species and their fisheries, although the increase in the fishing volumes has generated unprecedented pressures on these aggregations which are particularly vulnerable to overfishing. Without conservation and management measures, these aggregations may disappear completely as most known ones are declining.

Amigos de Sian Ka´an, in partnership with TNC, GVI and the local communities, is working actively to find, identify and validate aggregation sites in order to contribute to the protection and persistence of these valuable reef fish populations in the state of Quintana Roo, particularly in the region comprising the Sian Ka´an Biosphere Reserve, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lion fish spotted, and captured, in Mahahual

As we have been reporting on this blog, Lion Fish is an invasive species that is now threatening the Caribbean coral reefs and other related ecosystems. Many sightings have been reported along the Florida coastline and now we are starting to see them in the Mexican coastline too. First it was Cancun, the Playa del Carmen and Cozumel and the latest reports have come in Sian Ka'an Biosphere reserve, where Pez Maya is, and the coastal village of Mahahual, closest town to our Pta Gruesa Expedition.

Chencho, an old friend of ours, amazing captain and conservationist, found the lion fish pictured here.
The invasion of predatory lionfish in the Caribbean region poses yet another major threat there to coral reef ecosystems -- a new study has found that within a short period after the entry of lionfish into an area, the survival of other reef fishes is slashed by about 80 percent.

Lionfish are carnivores that can eat other fish up to two-thirds their own length, while they are protected from other predators by long, poisonous spines. In the Pacific Ocean other fish have learned to avoid them and they also have more natural predators, particularly large groupers. In the Atlantic Ocean, native fish have never seen them before and have no recognition of danger. There, about the only thing that will eat lionfish is another lionfish -- they are not only aggressive carnivores, but also cannibals.
As per local authorities recommendations, we will keep reporting all sightnigs, and we hope this species does not continue to expand at the current rate.

Coral Reef Early warning system workshop to celebrate World Environment Day 2009

June 5th of every year marks World Environment Day. World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day's agenda is to:

1. Give a human face to environmental issues;
2. Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
3. Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
4. Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

The theme for WED 2009 is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

This year’s host is Mexico which reflects the growing role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.

As host, Mexico designated Q Roo as the main state where the majority of the events were to occur this year. The Climate Change conference was organized in Cozumel and a series of talks/workshops and courses were held in Playa del Carmen.

One of the organized courses was the "Coral Reef Early Warning Network" training course. This networks aims to engage coral reef users such as dive professionals, boat captains, fishers, within many others, into conserving and policing these ecosystems. The course provides basic training in order to identify "abnormalities" within the reef, such as diseases, bleaching, invasive species - these "every-day" users of the reef know the reef like no one else does, and thus can identify anything out of the normal. By engaging all the local actors into this protocol, it is hoped that all users will become more active in preserving and caring this beautiful, but nevertheless ini dangeour, environment. Ontop of that, every day data on the state of the reef will be able to be collected and scienctific efforts focused on problematic areas. In this ocasion, GVI's Regional Director Daniel Ponce-Taylor was invited by the Municipality of Solidaridad to deliver part of the course.

We would like to congratulate all particpants who finished and past the course and we look forward to startingn receiving their reports and information

SACRED MAYAN CROSSING

The Sacred Mayan Crossing is the renactment of a ritual that ancient mayans used to do hundreds of years ago and that was forgotten with time. They used to canoe all along the Yucatan Coast up to Honduras trading their products and when they arrived to Xaman-ha town, today Playa del Carmen, they crossed to Cozumel Island to venerate the goddess Ixchel (goddes of fertility, good weather and good croping) and came back to continue their trading journey. Now a days inhabitants from Quintana Roo state: Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Tulum and Cozumel in an effort to recover this ancient tradition get physically prepare for 6 months in order to be able to cross from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel Island and back, about 26 kilometers each way!

This event is promoted by X-CARET, where the farewell and blessing ceremony takes place. There’s a lot of stuff to do there such as the Mayan Ball Game, listening to Mexican traditional music, watching the “Voladores de Papantla”, folkloric dances and more!

It started on Thursday 21st of May finishing on the 23rd. The first day we were there at 6:00pm, where pezzies and mahahualians met for spending some cultural and fun time together. We went first to the art crafts market, then we took a look to the Mayan Ball Game court where suddenly a pecari appeared running across it as if it had scaped from somewhere!

After that, we went to the Interactive Market where at the entrance we were given some cacao beans; the idea of this was to understand this ancient way of living where there was no money, just cacao, so you would trade it for products such as fish, meat, fruit, clothes, made! Also, they exhibited amazing animals like the macaws, huge snakes, and a very interesting one was the hairless Mexican dog, Xoloitzcuintle, beautiful but highly endangered specie.

After all this we walked out to the beach where the ceremony started with some important people speeches such as the First Lady followed by a ceremony and interpretation of the arrivals, fights and success of traveling on the canoes.

The next day, very early at 5:00 am we were ready to leave, the farewell ceremony will start at 6:00 am in Xcaret. It was amazing to see all the handmade canoes and the people that had been training for several months for this event departing, all dressing in white, with a strong will to achieve their goal, cross the sea all the way to Cozumel and back!

There were support and rescue boats, some people took the ferry and waited at Cozumel to see the arrival. The next day the same happened but everybody was at Playa, in Plaza Fundadores for welcoming and congratulating them.

In the Presence of Beauty

We had another moment of fortune in Punta Gruesa this week, in the form of an encounter that was most welcome. Although this blog may be biased by the author (the subject being their favourite creature), there are very few people that could not agree that the animal in question rivals most in beauty, grace and presence, and is known as the Spotted Eagle Ray. The awe they inspire by their movement and confidence is great, and we would challenge anyone to not be amazed by such an encounter. They appear at peace with everything and oblivious to dangers that humans may present, which allows us to properly observe them when they appear as seen in the video .

Another shark encounter is also one for the books, with a further exploration of the site LG (Los Gorditos) proving to be very fruitful. What was set to be a guineapig dive to find a continuation of our only spur and groove reef site, turned into an incidental sightings feast. Three Hawksbill Turtles, three Southern Stingrays, a Barracuda, two large Black Groupers and the aforementioned Nurse Shark were spotted in the 40 minute dive, a very unexpected turnout. The shark is seen coolly swimming away in the video after we spoiled its peace and quiet on the sea bed, an unusual sight as they tend to sit still and ignore you as much as possible. You know you are in the presence of a shark when you see them move in their characteristic swaying motion.

All these sightings are setting a precedent for the future and hopefully, with the dolphins soon to be making their way back north, the megafauna will be a daily encounter along the shores we are monitoring.

GVI, ASK, CONANP, UQROO, among others attend results presentation in ECOSUR

GVI is one of many organizations in Quintana Roo dedicated to the conservation of the MBRS. It is very comforting to know we are not alone in these efforts, for other research teams are working towards a common goal.

On Friday, May 22nd GVI was at ECOSUR (Colegio de la Frontera Sur) to witness the presentation of results for a 2 year research project on knowing, administering and conserving the reef. It took place in 3 areas of Costa Maya: Xcalak, Xahuaxol and Mahahual. The group was very thorough with the information they acquired and took their time to discuss their objectives, explain their methodology, show graphs and slides, brought specialists to present other projects that relate to the topic (oceanography, sea urchins, reef structures) and opened up the floor for discussion. Many of our partners were there to partake in this forum, and new goals were established, including the collaboration of everyone involved in sharing information, participation in future research and trying to take the results to the people it affects directly. Baruch Figueroa from ASK (Amigos de Sian Ka’an), María del Carmen García Rivas from CONANP (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas), Ricardo Torres from UQROO (Universidad de Quintana Roo) were present to agree on achieving this ambitious goal alongside the ongoing work being done by GVI in both bases. And to top it off, Laura Chanona, former NSP in Mahahual, is now a member working in this project from ECOSUR. At the end of it all, everyone gave their farewells with the assurance of meeting again soon. We are looking forward to it!

The Good Times Continue: Full Week of Diving, Earth Day & Mahahual Comes to Pez Maya

After over a month of preparation and anticipation, Earth Day finally made its way to Pez Maya last Tuesday! Fifteen 6-12 year olds and their teachers and parents pulled up early in the morning after an hour commute from the fishing village of Punta Allen. There were a lot of familiar faces, and eyes lit up when the kids recognized the volunteers who had been teaching them English. Lluvia and her team of EMs and Staff had a full day of activities ready, beginning with an interactive presentation (in Spanish!) of the coral reefs and what they might see snorkelling in the afternoon.

Dana, Jaen, Marcela, and Sophia read their sections flawlessly, while Shayle and Liz rocked their first attempt at reading Spanish out loud (coral de fuego!). Pictures of fish and coral were pasted to a beautifully painted backdrop to illustrate the complexities of the reef, and coral reproduction was brilliantly performed by Sam, who was dressed up with a combination of sheets, a trash can and confetti. The kids were captivated (especially with cardboard cut-outs of fish and coral stuck to their heads), and were able to positively ID the different fish and coral during the review.

After the presentation, the groups split up for snorkelling, games and base tour. On the first tour, we were lucky enough to spot some Least Tern eggs, and took the opportunity to teach a little bit about how we can help the birds have a more successful reproduction cycle by fencing off the nest areas. The majority of the games revolved around turtle survival in a developing world, with turtle costumes, reef litter puzzles, and a labyrinth. After a hearty lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and potato salad, worked on recycled art, face painting and played a little beach volleyball. The parents of Punta Allen really showed the Pez Mayans how serious volleyball is done. After a huge group photo and lots of hugs, the kids headed back home, and the Pez Mayans were exhausted; somehow we all managed 2 dives that day as well. Thanks for an incredible day Lluvia!





The Weekend
The Sacred Mayan Crossing (Travesia Sagrada Maya) was this weekend. Danny, Olly and Mo from the office represented the strength, power, and teamwork of GVI and paddled for 9 hours (really nine hours) from Xcaret to Cozumel and then back to Playa del Carmen. The Pez Mayans and the Mahahualians all met up in Playa for a weekend of getting to know each other before the base exchange at Pez Maya and to show support for team GVI.

Scientists!
After 7 weeks of studying up and countless spot dives, we began coral monitoring last week! Leela and Shayle were the first Pez Mayans to gather a full data set for dive site SMDR 10, and with the help of the visiting Mahahualians (coral and fish), more data will be posted this week. It’s an amazing feeling being underwater trying to collect data that will actually be used. As a coral person, you really don’t see much around you when down on a monitor dive, literally hovering inches over the reef, taking data every 25 centimetres. It’s so frustrating when a beautiful coral is mere millimetres from being under the transect line on a Point Intercept and you don’t get to record it! With the good weather, the rest of us should be out and monitoring in no time. We are getting very good at swimming very very slowly and floating upside down inches above the reef.


BTEC: If it needs doing, fixing, or anything at all…just ask Liz or Shayle
I am going to stop writing the blog, because there is a jammed tape measure I get to take apart.

Standing by 67.

We’ve got the Power

With the wind and the sun being such a common denominator at Punta Gruesa and a source of contention amongst the habitants, the decision was made to harness them for the greater good. The impossible has now become possible, with PG seeing the installation of wind and solar power on the roof! After a year in the pipeline, the panels and turbine arrived and two days later, 6 large batteries and a converter now provide enough power to fuel all of the electrical needs at PG. There are, of course, a few hitches in the process, including the need to rewire and a few slight technical issues, but hopefully the stored energy will be connected to the whole base giving us electricity 24 hours a day. This will take PG from remote and basic, to remote and luxurious! The need to use the generator for office work and fish and coral assessments will be gone and the evenings can be taken advantage of to do other things.

Hopefully, the system will outlast our needs at Punta Gruesa, saving petrol currently used to fuel the generator at nights, making the base run more efficiently and becoming more environmentally friendly. Now all we need is electric cars, rowing boats, an alternative fuel for the compressor and an electric cooker, and we will no longer need fossil fuels. Bring on alternative energy!

PG in full monitoring swing

After a month of training, learning, diving, trips off site, dive courses and a bad spell of weather, PG is finally on track and monitoring like a well oiled machine. The data is flying in whilst most boat trips are made to our monitoring sites with the three buddy pairs collecting data from Coral Communities and Point Intercept to assess the coral, and Adult and Juvenile fish surveys to monitor any patterns evolving year on year. All the training has paid off and everyone is happy to be doing what they came here to do. They are all assuming the position, horizontal for fishy folk and upside down for coral cuties, to do as instructed along 30m transects to ensure we gather the data required.

Another monitoring style is also being adopted, and has been recently pioneered on one of our sites with the hopes of expanding to others. As there is so little known about the progress of disease and predation, and the effects on corals, we have begun to mark corals with a negative impact such as disease that will be monitored through photography comparisons to establish any relevant information and track the progress of the corals. The four corals that have been marked so far include an encrusting gorgonian that is overgrowing a coral, White Plague which is a disease that kills the animal, bleaching which is a colour defect resulting from loss of algae, and finally Red Band Disease.

‘Not a Raft’ lives up to her name

In an earlier blog titled ‘It’s us against the wind!’, some of the EM’s were using their spare time to engineer a vessel that would sail them to and from the breakers over the reef. Swiss-German engineering was at the helm in the form of Clemens, but with many helping hands, Nar became a reality.

NAR 1 (Not a Raft 1) was named after many people were misnaming it a raft, when the maker was adamant it was a Catamaran. She began to take shape very quickly, with the pile of bamboo turning into…two piles of bamboo tied together with rope! A cross bar was added, and the mast fitted inside an empty coffee pot. There was also talk of a spinnaker (for those of a non-sailing persuasion, this is an extra sail that can be quickly put up from the front of the boat, giving it a turbo-charged effect. Well, kind of). A slight miscalculation was made with the buoyancy of the cat, but the first sail went ahead and she carried two people along the shoreline as the photo illustrates.

However, unhappy with the end result, perfectionist to the end, Clemens was determined to better his first attempt with a different design. This involved some underground dealings whereby 20L water bottles were purchased to give the boat some lift. Less bamboo was tie together, and a simple frame was fortified with the water bottles. Clemens had to leave before completing the second phase, but the project was continued by the remaining volunteers.

However, the voyage to the breakers just wasn’t to be, as Mother Nature then thwarted the attempt. An unexpected storm blew up and caused havoc on base, caving in the roof of the compressor hut. Therefore, NAR was scrapped for parts to build a new hut to shade the compressor. So although NAR didn’t fulfill her goals, she is now an integral part of another important structure, and will remain in her new form and position, at least until the next storm.

New staff member as Amigos de Sian ka’an-GVI liaison!

We would like to take this opportunity to announce and welcome Baruch Figueroa to the GVI Mexico team. He is joining us as the Amigos de Sian Ka’an (ASK) and GVI liaison, a recently created position that will reinforce ASK presence in the expeditions as he will be continually visiting the bases, talking about ASK projects, aiding in the standardization of staff and volunteer training and leading some of the data analysis and publication results.

Baruch is an old friend of GVI as he was the first Mexican to be granted with the National Scholarship Programme at the very beginning of the GVI Mahahual expedition. He then was chosen as an Intern and stayed as a staff member for a year in Mahahual. Afterwards he accomplished a Masters degree in Marine and Coastal Resources Evaluation and Management in Costa Rica and Mexico and for the last two years he has been working with Amigos de Sian ka’an in different research projects.

We are very happy to have Baruck on board as his expertise will add a lot to what we currently have in the Mexico team! Bienvenido Baruck!

To read more about Baruch and all the field staff backgrounds please visit the following sites:
http://www.gvi.co.uk/expeditions/central-america/mexico/marine-conservation-expedition-mexico/further-information/leaders and

http://www.gvi.co.uk/expeditions/central-america/mexico/beginners-marine-conservation-expedition-mexico/further-information/leaders

Last update Influenza in Mexico

As you should already know Influenza outbreak intensity in Mexico is being decreasing and little by little all is coming back to normality in the country. Volunteers and staff members from our two Marine Expeditions continue healthy and happy enjoying their last weeks of the current phase. They are starting to monitor the Mexican Caribbean spots using the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) techniques as they have learnt!

We are also happy to announce that the coming phase starting on the 26th of June will be taking place as scheduled as on Friday 15th May, both the UK Foreign & Commonwealth office (FCO) and the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) modified their warning regarding nonessential travel to Mexico. We will continue monitoring travel advice from all relevant authorities and would like to reiterate that the health and safety of staff and participants is our primary concern.