topic: Marine Protected Areas

topic: Marine Protected Areas

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Philippines’ newest marine protected area ‘sets inspiring example’ (commentary)
- Nestled in the heart of the Coral Triangle, one of the most biodiverse marine regions on the planet, Panaon Island is a jewel of the Philippines’ natural heritage.
- Despite its biodiversity, Panaon Island faces growing threats, so a broad coalition of community leaders, environmental advocates and government agencies have rallied to designate the waters surrounding it as a new marine protected area (MPA).
- But safeguarding marine habitats requires more than designations and new maps. “Marine protected areas need proper funding, active monitoring and strong enforcement to prevent illegal activities from undermining conservation,” a new op-ed says.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Seafloor survey in Cambodia finds simple anti-trawling blocks help seagrass recover
- A recent study provides the first large-scale map of Cambodia’s coastal habitats and reports early seagrass recovery near anti-trawling structures in the Kep Marine Fisheries Management Area.
- Surveys across 62,146 hectares (153,566 acres) show a 39% loss of seagrass cover in Kampot province over the past decade.
- The study doesn’t examine potential impacts from the planned $1.7 billion Funan Techo Canal, which is set to meet the sea about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) away from the Kep Marine Fisheries Management Area.

‘Myopic’ fisheries managers toy with a new ‘tragedy of the commons’ (commentary)
- There are many examples of “tragedies of the commons,” whether in the atmosphere as a result of carbon dioxide pollution, or in the oceans because of marine plastics. But arguably the largest in the world is caused by overfishing, a new op-ed argues.
- The general absence of effective fisheries regulations that ensure the conservation of healthy fish populations endangers whole oceans and the billions of people who depend upon fish for their livelihoods.
- “Currently, fisheries ministers are myopically obsessed with the pain the industry always claims it would suffer next year if the right conservation policies were adopted. They should look instead at how long we have been getting it wrong, and how quickly things could be turned round,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

A rare bright spot for whales: Decades of conservation pay off for endangered population in Canada
- Northern bottlenose whale populations have struggled to rebound, even though commercial whaling was outlawed in their habitats more than 50 years ago.
- Long-term monitoring shows that one population of the species has begun to recover since their year-round habitat, a submarine canyon off Canada’s east coast known as the Gully, became a Marine Protected Area in 2004.
- The Gully MPA provides a rare marine conservation success story, but protection for marine mammals that migrate is more complex.

Abrolhos: A South Atlantic marine treasure in need of protection
- Located off the coast of the Brazilian states of Bahia and Espírito Santo, the vast Abrolhos Seascape is home to some of the South Atlantic Ocean’s richest marine biodiversity. Here, more than 500 species inhabit coral reefs, mangrove forests and islands. Brazil’s largest humpback whale breeding ground also occurs within the seascape.
- Yet little legislation has been created to protect this region, leaving it at risk of predatory fishing and deep-sea mining: Less than 2% of the South Atlantic’s largest coral reef, which occupies 46,000 square kilometers within the wider Abrolhos Seascape, is fully protected.
- A recent study identified critical areas and vulnerable ecosystems within Abrolhos Seascape that the authors say need urgent conservation action; these include rhodolith beds — clusters of limestone rock that are crucial for climate security and marine species reproduction.

Offshore fossil fuel exploration jeopardizes Brazil’s climate leadership, study says
- Ahead of the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Brazil, a report by environment-monitoring organization SkyTruth mapped the environmental impact of the advance of offshore exploration for fossil fuels in Brazil, criticizing the country’s unfulfilled energy transition promises.
- The study detected 179 probable oil slicks in Brazilian waters since 2017, as the oil and gas sectors boomed. Analyses showed that traffic from fossil-industry vessels grew by 81% between 2012 and 2023, while methane burning skyrocketed — releasing into the atmosphere the equivalent emissions of 6.9 million cars annually.
- According to the investigation, Brazil still embraces environmentally controversial initiatives, such as oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River. This agenda brings risks to rich marine ecosystems and Indigenous and traditional communities, moving the country further away from its climate and conservation goals.

Pakistan declares its third marine protected area, but has a long way to go
- In September, Pakistan declared its third marine protected area, around Miani Hor Lagoon on the country’s central coast.
- The biodiversity-rich lagoon hosts a lush mangrove forest, numerous bird species and threatened marine mammals.
- Conservationists welcomed the new marine protected area as a baby step toward meeting the country’s so-called 30×30 commitment to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030. However, the new addition puts Pakistan’s total protected marine area at just 0.23% of its marine and coastal jurisdiction.
- The scope of protections for the new protected area remains to be determined. Local people expressed concern that restrictions could upend the livelihoods of the local community, which depends on the lagoon and mangroves and already lacks basic necessities.

Are Belize’s fisheries policies delivering?
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Belize has built an enviable brand as a small country taking on a big problem: how to keep the sea alive while sustaining the people who depend on it. The story sells well. A 2021 debt-for-nature “blue bond” […]
Ethanol plant spills harmful wastewater into Philippine marine reserve
A chemical spill from an ethanol distillery has put one of the Philippines’ largest marine protected areas at risk. A wall retaining the wastewater pond of an ethanol distillery plant collapsed on Oct. 24, causing about 255,000 cubic meters (67 million gallons) of wastewater to flow into Bais Bay in the central Philippines, according to […]
Antarctic conservation summit closes with stalemate on MPAs & krill fishing rules
- The annual meeting of the international body responsible for the conservation of Southern Ocean marine ecosystems concluded Friday with no progress on two contentious issues before it: the creation of new marine protected areas and the strengthening of regulations governing the fishery for krill (Euphausia superba), a species on which numerous iconic species of Antarctic wildlife depend.
- This year’s annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was particularly tense, due to a clash between two occasionally overlapping groups of countries: on one side, those working to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs), and on the other, those more focused on increasing krill fishing.
- CCAMLR has considered proposals to establish three large MPAs annually for years but has failed to pass them under its consensus-based decision-making process. This year was the same, due to vetoes of MPA proposals by Russia and China.
- The combination of a lack of will to reinstate previously agreed regulations governing the krill fishery and a new push to drastically increase the krill harvest suggests a change in direction at CCAMLR toward more permissive fishing.

Chaos on Cambodia’s Coast
Along Cambodia’s rapidly transforming coastline, illegal trawling, elite-backed development, and weak enforcement are driving marine ecosystems and fishing communities to the brink. This 2024 series investigates the institutional breakdown behind the country’s marine crisis, from ineffective patrols in protected areas to billion-dollar land deals displacing small-scale fishers. It examines the competing interests reshaping Cambodia’s coast, […]
Belize’s blue reputation vs. reef reality: Marine conservation wins, and what’s missing (commentary)
- For over a year, journalists from Mongabay and Mongabay Latam have been digging into issues related to the Mesoamerican Reef, the Western Hemisphere’s largest barrier reef system, which runs from Mexico’s Yucatán through Belize and Guatemala to Honduras.
- As part of that effort, which involves exploring both problems and solutions, Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler spoke to experts and reviewed many reports, scientific papers, and stories.
- With its early leadership and significant funding, Belize has emerged as a linchpin in Mesoamerican Reef conservation and fisheries management. This summary brings together what various experts have said—highlighting gaps, issues, and actionable recommendations as they relate to Belize.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Norway’s proposal to double krill harvests raises tension at Antarctic conservation summit
- Norway has proposed almost doubling the catch limit for krill in the Southern Ocean, a proposal that has exacerbated tensions at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Australia. Conservationists have expressed concern because the continent’s iconic wildlife depend on krill for sustenance.
- The CEO of Aker BioMarine, a Norwegian company that dominates the Southern Ocean krill catch, said it has been working with CCAMLR member countries to advance the proposal as well as create a marine protected area around the Antarctic Peninsula.
- Chinese and Russian delegates have voted for years to veto new marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.
- Russia came into the spotlight at this year’s meeting following its arrest of Leonid Pshenychnov, a researcher at the Ukrainian Institute of Fisheries, Marine Ecology and Oceanography and a longtime member of the Ukrainian delegation to CCAMLR.

Nickel mining threatens Raja Ampat ecosystems, communities & conservation: Report
- A new environmental report warns that expanding nickel mining is placing Raja Ampat’s coral reefs, forests and Indigenous communities under intensifying threat.
- Using geospatial mapping and field evidence, researchers document how mining concessions overlap with critical ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots within the UNESCO-designated geopark.
- They also describe the industry’s deep colonial-era roots, its modern expansion under state and private control and its connections to global electric vehicle supply chains through companies like Tesla, Ford and Volkswagen.
- Activists are urging the Indonesian government to revoke all remaining mining permits, enforce no-go zones and shift toward sustainable economic alternatives that protect the archipelago’s ecological and cultural heritage.

UK rejects total ban on bottom trawling in offshore marine protected areas
The U.K. government has rejected calls to fully ban bottom trawling in its offshore marine protected areas, despite evidence that the fishing practice tears up seabed habitats and releases large amounts of carbon. Bottom trawling involves dragging weighted nets across the seafloor, often crushing coral reefs and sponges while stirring up sediments. The huge nets […]
Philippines protects coral hotspot
The Philippines recently protected 61,204-hectares (151,200-acres) of the seas around Panaon Island, home to some of the healthiest and most climate-resilient coral reefs in the world. The waters are also rich in fish and host several threatened species such as the endangered whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), the endangered […]
Just as Raja Ampat fetches UNESCO Biosphere Reserve title, nickel mining looms
- On Sept. 27, UNESCO designated 26 new biosphere reserves, including Indonesia’s Raja Ampat, which is also recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark; the two designations make it one of few places on Earth honored for both geological heritage and biodiversity.
- Yet nickel mining threatens to carve up the region’s forests and coral reefs; a new report finds that nickel concessions in Raja Ampat cover 22,000 hectares, including zones that overlap with coral reefs and marine habitats.
- This raises questions about whether international recognition alone can safeguard Raja Ampat against the growing pressure of nickel extraction, driven by global demand for batteries in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

Study spotlights West Papua habitat as whale sharks face increased pressures
- A new study shows the Bird’s Head Seascape in West Papua is a crucial nursery for juvenile whale sharks, where most sightings involved young males feeding around fishing platforms.
- Researchers documented 268 individuals over 13 years, with more than half showing injuries tied to human activity, raising concerns about fisheries, tourism and emerging mining pressures.
- Scientists warn that protecting these habitats with stricter rules and better management is essential for the survival and recovery of the endangered species.

‘Super big deal’: High seas treaty reaches enough ratifications to become law
- The agreement on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, also known as the high seas treaty, was reached in 2023 with much fanfare in marine conservation circles, partly because it sets up a system for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters.
- On Sept. 19, Morocco became the 60th country to ratify the deal, which means it will become binding international law in January 2026.
- Experts and advocates celebrated the milestone, calling it a win for conservation and international cooperation.
- Uncertainty remains in how the treaty will interact with other regulatory regimes for fishing and mining, among other activities.

São Tomé and Príncipe commits to creating a marine protected area network
- São Tomé and Príncipe will establish eight marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 93 square kilometers (36 square miles) of coastal habitats in the Gulf of Guinea.
- The island nation aims to protect its marine environment while improving the lives of fishing communities, who rely heavily on fish for protein.
- Current challenges include the decline of pelagic fish stocks and loss of biodiversity due to indiscriminate fishing practices and climate change.
- The law designating the MPAs is expected to be enacted in September.

Philippines protects huge coral hotspot off the coast of Panaon Island
The corals around Panaon Island in the southeastern Philippines form some of the healthiest and most climate-resilient reefs in the world, and they’re now a legally protected seascape. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the Panaon Island Protected Seascape law on Aug. 29. It creates a 61,204-hectare (151,200-acre) marine protected area within the Pacific Coral […]
Censured Sumatra coal plant blamed for sickening children in Indonesia’s Bengkulu
- A 2×100 megawatt coal power plant established by Chinese state-owned enterprise, Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), incurred environmental penalties in 2023 from Indonesia’s environment ministry for dumping fly ash into a protected marine area off the city of Bengkulu in Sumatra.
- Residents of Teluk Sepang in 2019 formed a grassroots organization to advocate for clean air while holding to account PowerChina’s Indonesian affiliate, PT Tenaga Listrik Bengkulu.
- Data from a local clinic in Teluk Sepang showed a large share of young people living in the shadow of the coal plant suffer from respiratory diseases.

Why the BBNJ treaty on marine biodiversity matters more in the Mediterranean (commentary)
- The Mediterranean Sea covers less than 1% of the world’s ocean surface, yet hosts more than 18% of its known marine species, while being beset by unresolved maritime boundaries plus growing pressure from climate change, overfishing and pollution.
- That’s why this marine ecology hotspot needs the new U.N. treaty on oceanic biodiversity (BBNJ), as it offers a unique chance for Mediterranean countries to cooperate on common ground: despite claims that it lies outside of the scope of the agreement, there are legal grounds to claim the contrary.
- “Vast areas of the Mediterranean remain undelimited and unclaimed, existing in a legal gray zone. Under international law, these areas are considered de facto beyond national jurisdiction and therefore within the geographical scope of the BBNJ Agreement,” the authors of a new op-ed argue. “By mobilizing diplomatic, legal and financial resources through its institutions and member states, the EU can help catalyze broader regional ratification and implementation.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Community efforts yield new marine protected area in the Philippines
The Philippines has officially designated a new marine protected area after an 18-year campaign by local communities, fisher associations, civil society organizations and government agencies, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced Aug. 13. The newly created Bitaug Marine Protected Area (MPA), which covers nearly 150 hectares (about 370 acres), is the largest MPA in Siquijor province […]
Argentina pushes pipeline exports through protected Patagonian waters
- In Argentina, the construction of an oil port and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for ships threatens one of the most biodiverse areas in the southwestern Atlantic.
- The law that protected the area from these types of projects was amended without prior consultation in 2022.
- Oil spills, rising water temperatures, and ship strikes on the thriving whale population are among the greatest threats highlighted by critics.

How will fisheries change in a hotter world? Experts share
- Fifty years from now, in 2075, global ocean temperatures are forecast to rise by between 2° and 5° Celsius (3.6° and 9° Fahrenheit). Warming is already reshaping fisheries worldwide, and even more dramatic changes are expected as fish largely move to cooler latitudes.
- These fish migrations will change ecosystem patterns and will likely have unexpected consequences even in places far from the fish themselves. They also may devastate fishing communities, both on an economic scale and a social one.
- However, there are potential solutions to avoid the most catastrophic effects for fishers and ecosystems alike, including setting aside some ecosystems as marine protected areas, changing fisheries management strategies and retraining communities to provide supplemental income.

Goldman Prize winner’s shift from engineer to activist in Tenerife, Canary Islands
Carlos Mallo Molina grew up inspired by his engineer father who led port construction projects across Spain. But while working on a highway project in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, Molina realized that a related plan to build a port in a marine protected area threatened the marine ecosystem that he had come to […]
Encouraging signs from a no-fishing zone in Comoros could inspire others
- Signs of improvement in fisheries arising from a small no-fishing zone in the Indian Ocean nation of Comoros could inspire the establishment of more such zones across the archipelago.
- A fishers’ group installed the first no-take zone inside a marine protected area off the island of Anjouan in 2021. The group’s president told Mongabay fishers are now encountering more fish nearer to the shore outside the zone’s bounds.
- Buoyed by the results, a local nonprofit plans to establish five no-take zones in Anjouan over the next two years, covering 425 hectares (1,050 acres) of coral reefs.
- Earlier efforts to enforce temporary fishing closures to promote octopus fisheries for export and reduce pressure on fragile coral reef ecosystems didn’t lead to the anticipated benefits.

Guarding Mexico’s blue frontiers: A conversation with Alejandro González
- Alejandro González has spent nearly 20 years advancing marine conservation in Mexico, leading efforts in iconic marine protected areas like Cabo Pulmo and Revillagigedo, where he combined fieldwork, enforcement, and diplomacy to protect remote ocean ecosystems.
- Now Director for Global Conservation in Mexico, González focuses on scaling enforcement through technology like Marine Monitor radar systems and strengthening institutional capacity to safeguard no-take zones such as the Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve.
- Grounded in community realities, he emphasizes the need to align conservation with local livelihoods—especially amid growing threats like cartel involvement in fisheries—and is motivated by a vision of protecting the ocean for future generations.
- González spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler aboard a ship off the Revillagigedo Archipelago in June 2025.

Coral restoration after devasting Deepwater Horizon spill shows promise
When BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2011, it led to the largest oil spill in U.S. history, severely damaging marine ecosystems. Part of the settlement money that BP agreed to pay has since been used for a deep-sea restoration project that has achieved significant milestones in spawning corals […]
Reversing damage to the world’s mangrove forests
Mangroves are an important lifeline for biodiversity, climate and coastal communities. Yet they are disappearing 3-5 times faster than total global forest losses, according to UNESCO. On July 26, celebrated as the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, we present recent stories by Mongabay’s journalists on emerging threats to these critical ecosystems […]
Probiotics slow a deadly disease in Florida coral, study finds
A bacterial probiotic helped slow the spread of a deadly disease on great star coral, one of the largest and most resistant corals still surviving in the Florida Reef Tract, a 560-kilometer (350-mile) barrier reef off the coast of Florida, U.S., a recent study found. The treatment involved sealing live great star coral (Montaststraea cavernosa) […]
Evolution in overdrive as Baltic cod shrink due to fishing pressure, study shows
- The eastern Baltic cod has shrunk dramatically in size in recent decades due to rapid evolution — changes at the genetic level — caused by decades of intensive fishing, a new study says.
- Eastern Baltic cod, which are a distinct subpopulation of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), lost nearly half of their length and four-fifths of their weight from 1996 until 2019.
- It’s one of the first studies to show that a marine species has evolved in response to fishing pressure.
- An expert said the shrinking of the cod was “alarming,” and called on fisheries managers to work to protect fish biomass and size, given this new evidence of fisheries-induced evolution.

Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
- A global study tracking nearly 13,000 marine animals representing 111 species reveals they spend 80% of their time in just 63% of their range, yet only about 5% of these high-use ocean areas are currently protected.
- The research identifies Important Marine Megafauna Areas (IMMegAs) as ecological hotspots that span national waters and the high seas, where governance and protection are often lacking.
- Findings show that the global target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 is insufficient to safeguard migratory species unless paired with additional mitigation measures outside protected areas, like bycatch reduction and ship speed regulations.
- Researchers call for stronger international coordination and more dynamic, movement-informed conservation strategies to effectively protect wide-ranging ocean wildlife.

Small island nations provide big environmental solutions but need finance partners (commentary)
- Small island nations offer the world powerful environmental solutions — from “blue” climate finance innovations to marine conservation — but they need the international community to match their ambition with fairness and support.
- Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne argues that for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like his, navigating uncertainty is nothing new, but these days that must be increasingly tempered with fairness, as sea levels rise and marine ecosystems struggle due to a climate crisis that they did little to abet.
- “We face growing inequities, particularly around access to ocean resources and climate finance. Between 2000 and 2023, SIDS suffered more than $30 billion in losses from climate-related disasters, yet we are locked out of concessional financing due to narrow economic metrics. This is not just unsustainable — it is unjust,” he writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Sharks didn’t rebound—so Mark Erdmann is putting them back
- For over 30 years, Mark Erdmann has combined scientific discovery with grassroots conservation in Indonesia, helping communities protect their reefs from destructive practices and documenting more than 220 new species.
- As a leader behind Raja Ampat’s pioneering community-governed marine protected areas, Erdmann has shown how local stewardship can revive ecosystems—bringing back sharks, rays, and sustainable tourism.
- Despite new threats like over-tourism and revived mining, Erdmann remains hopeful, pointing to rising public resistance, tech-enabled rewilding programs like ReShark, and a new generation of Indonesian conservationists.
- Erdmann spoke with Mongabay Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler during a voyage in the Pacific in June 2025.

Antarctic coalition wins €1m prize for safeguarding a fragile frontier
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), an advocacy group focused on the world’s coldest and most remote region, has received the 2025 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. The 1 million euro ($1.17 million) award, presented by the Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, recognizes the coalition’s decades-long efforts to preserve Antarctica’s ecological integrity and protect the Southern […]
Listings of Indonesian islands renew fears of privatization for coastal communities
- Listings of Indonesian islands on a foreign real estate site have sparked concerns about privatization, prompting the government to block the site domestically and clarify that islands cannot be sold to foreign entities under national law.
- Officials said the listings were likely aimed at attracting investment, not outright sales, but critics warn such practices enable control over island and offshore areas, often displacing fishers and triggering land conflicts.
- A 2021 regulation allows foreign investors to lease small islands for up to $1,900 per km² per year, and a government portal launched in 2024 streamlines permits for islands smaller than 2,000 km², accelerating commercialization.
- Watchdogs say 254 small islands have already been privatized, often without adequate oversight, and warn that unchecked investment could jeopardize fisher livelihoods and national sovereignty over maritime territories.

With coral-rich Churna Island now an MPA, Pakistan takes baby steps on ocean protection
- In September 2024, Churna Island and the sea surrounding it became Pakistan’s second designated marine protected area, home to a variety of corals and serving as a nursery for fish.
- It followed the 2017 designation of the country’s very first MPA around Astola Island, a haven for coral, birds and sea turtles to the east.
- While Pakistan’s first two MPAs are small and have yet to be fully implemented, they represent baby steps in the country’s nascent effort to protect its marine environment.
- The country still has a long way to go to protect 30% of its ocean by 2030, as mandated by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Countries seek urgent CITES protection of more than 70 sharks and rays
Several proposals seeking greater protection of more than 70 shark and ray species from commercial trade were raised this week for deliberation at the 20th meeting of CITES, the global convention on the wildlife trade, to be held in November. “The world is at a tipping point for sharks and rays,” Luke Warwick, director of […]
Vanishing giants: The Indian Ocean’s biggest fish need saving (commentary)
- New research confirms the decline of predatory and large-bodied fishes in the western Indian Ocean due to overfishing, unregulated fishing practices and climate change.
- The lead author of a new paper published in the journal Conservation Biology argues that these fish must be protected to ensure healthier reefs, marine ecosystems and adjacent human communities.
- “This issue isn’t just about protecting fish, but also maintaining a healthy ecosystem, supporting a crucial food source for millions and sustaining the livelihoods of many coastal communities. If we act now, we can still turn the tide,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Major coral loss in Vietnam’s first marine protected area: Study
- Vietnam’s first marine protected area (MPA), Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since it was established in 2002, according to a new study.
- Major drivers of the coral decline include coastal development, warming sea temperatures and devastating crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks worsened by overfishing and nutrient pollution.
- The study calls for stronger conservation measures inside Nha Trang Bay and other MPAs, including pollution control, active reef restoration and inclusive community governance.
- Experts say Nha Trang Bay offers lessons for other MPAs in Southeast Asia facing similar threats.

UN Ocean Conference makes progress on protecting marine waters
- The United Nations Ocean Conference, held June 9-13 in Nice, France, saw some progress on better protecting the hundreds of thousands of species that live in marine waters and the communities that depend on the sea for work or sustenance.
- New countries committed to the high seas treaty, a moratorium on deep-sea mining and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, while a huge group of nations pushed for a strong global plastics treaty.
- Several countries also moved to create marine protected areas (MPAs) and reserves, or strengthen existing ones, including the announcement of the world’s largest MPA in French Polynesia.
- A wide range of groups announced other marine conservation initiatives.

The ocean is in crisis. A new effort is betting on coastal communities to save it.
The ocean has long been treated as the world’s forgotten frontier — out of sight, out of mind, and dangerously overused. Yet efforts to reverse decades of neglect are gaining momentum. Late April saw the launch of Revive Our Ocean, a new initiative helping coastal communities create marine protected areas (MPAs) to restore marine life […]
Pacific island nations launch plan for world’s first Indigenous-led ocean reserve
The governments of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have announced their commitment to create a massive multinational Melanesian Ocean Reserve. If implemented as envisioned, the reserve would become the world’s first Indigenous-led ocean reserve, covering an area nearly as big as the Amazon Rainforest. Speaking at the U.N. Ocean Conference underway in Nice, France, representatives […]
Coral reefs and seagrass get new protections off Tanzania’s Pemba Island
Tanzania will establish two new marine protected areas off the eastern coast of Pemba Island in the semiautonomous region of Zanzibar, the fisheries minister for Zanzibar announced at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, on June 10. Zanzibar’s minister for blue economy and fisheries, Shaaban Ali Othman, said at the conference that the […]
Stars & lighthouses: Marine conservation that blends Pacific Islander wisdom and Western knowledge (commentary)
- The U.N. Ocean Conference this week is tackling a range of issues, such as how to conserve and sustainably use the oceans and marine resources: a new op-ed argues that the strength of Indigenous islander conservation practices lies in their flexibility and adaptability, while Western conservation efforts bring clear, formal, and intentional goals — and that blending the two can return inspiring results.
- “Conservation is not just about the number of lighthouses we build — about visible policies and formal designations — but we must also name and recognize the stars that have guided us all along; the quiet, steadfast traditions that have protected our oceans for thousands of years,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Indonesia halts most nickel mining in Raja Ampat, but allows one controversial permit
- Indonesia has revoked four out of five nickel mining permits in Raja Ampat after public pressure and findings of environmental damage in the ecologically sensitive archipelago, home to some of the world’s richest marine biodiversity.
- However, the government retained the permit for PT Gag Nikel, citing its location outside a UNESCO-designated geopark, lack of visible pollution, ongoing land rehabilitation, and the high economic value of its nickel deposits.
- Environmental groups have criticized the decision, pointing to legal bans on mining on small islands and warning of threats to marine life such as manta rays and coral reefs from barge traffic and industrial activity.
- The case reflects broader concerns about Indonesia’s nickel rush, with nearly 200 mining concessions on small islands nationwide, raising alarms over environmental destruction and the prioritization of industry over legal and ecological safeguards.

Samoa’s new marine spatial plan protects 30% of the country’s ocean
- The Samoan government announced June 3 that it has enacted a law establishing a marine spatial plan to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean by 2030.
- The country has also created nine new marine protected areas that cover 30% of its ocean.
- Fishing is prohibited in the new protected areas, which include a migration route for humpback whales.
- The plan became law on May 1.

UK signs deal handing over Chagos to Mauritius, but tensions remain
The U.K. recognized the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius’ claim to the Chagos Archipelago in an agreement signed May 22. While Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam praised the deal, it elicited mixed reactions from many Chagossians, the islands’ original inhabitants. Starting in 1968, they were displaced from the chain of islands by British colonial rulers to […]
How a road engineer became an ocean activist & won the world’s top environmental prize
Carlos Mallo Molina has been awarded the 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize for protecting the marine biodiversity of Tenerife, the most populated of the Canary Islands. On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, Molina explains what led him to quit his job as a civil engineer on a road project impacting the Teno-Rasca marine protected area (MPA) […]
Annual ocean conference nets $9.1 billion for initiatives, despite US absence
- The 10th annual Our Ocean Conference took place in Busan, South Korea, April 28-30.
- Delegates announced 277 new commitments totaling around $9.1 billion for initiatives across the conference’s six main target areas: the ocean-climate nexus, marine pollution, MPAs, sustainable fisheries, the blue economy and maritime security.
- Notable commitments at this year’s conference included Panama moving to increase fisheries transparency, $6 billion in funding for blue economy initiatives and more pledges to ratify the high seas treaty.
- This marked the first OOC without delegates or financial pledges from the U.S. government, which initiated the conference in 2014.

Protecting coastal waters may be the best investment you’ve never heard of, says Kristin Rechberger
- In this interview, Kristin Rechberger—founder of Dynamic Planet and a Mongabay board member—discusses Revive Our Ocean, a new initiative empowering coastal communities to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) that benefit both nature and livelihoods.
- With only 3% of the ocean fully protected and the 2030 “30×30” target looming, Rechberger argues that waiting on governments isn’t enough; community-led efforts are crucial to scaling marine conservation rapidly and equitably.
- Drawing on a decade of experience creating large offshore marine reserves, Rechberger is now focusing on coastal regions where local communities have a direct stake in healthy seas—but often lack the legal authority, tools, or support to act.
- She emphasizes that marine protection is not only ecologically effective but economically smart, citing examples like Spain’s Medes Islands Reserve and Mexico’s booming dive tourism as models for prosperity through conservation.

With deep-sea mining plans in limbo, Norwegian companies fold or dig in
- Norway’s plans to mine seabed minerals in Arctic waters remain in limbo after the first licensing round was delayed in December 2024. However, the government maintains that progress will resume soon, with a licensing round tentatively set for 2026.
- Some deep-sea mining companies have faced significant financial struggles due to the delay, with one company going bankrupt and another slashing costs; yet, other firms remain optimistic, insisting the industry’s future is still secure.
- Experts warn that considerable knowledge gaps must be addressed before deep-sea mining can proceed, particularly regarding environmental impacts.
- In Norway, the industry also continues to face heavy opposition from environmental groups, the fishing sector, and several political parties.

Trump opens massive marine protected area to commercial fishing
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation allowing commercial fishing in Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (PIH), a massive marine protected area home to threatened fish, sea turtles and marine mammals. The proclamation says U.S.-flagged vessels may now fish within 50-200 nautical miles (90-370 kilometers) inside PIH’s boundaries. While the proclamation and factsheet […]
Even in death, Indigenous Fijians protect the sea
In the waters surrounding Fiji, an ancient tradition endures. Indigenous (iTaukei) communities have long established designated both freshwater and marine ecosystems where fishing and harvesting are temporarily forbidden in honor of their deceased. Though historically practiced for cultural and spiritual reasons, these aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs) have inadvertently contributed to sustainable resource management — […]
Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea
- Thailand’s dugongs are disappearing fast, reflecting an unfolding crisis in the region’s seagrass ecosystems.
- Seagrass beds on Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast that support one of the world’s most significant populations of dugongs have died off in recent years, creating an increasingly challenging environment for the charismatic marine mammals.
- Scientists point to a combination unsustainable coastal practices and climate change as the main factors driving the decline.
- Government agencies, marine scientists and volunteers are taking emergency steps to save the remaining dugongs, but experts warn their long-term survival in Thailand depends on fixing the root causes of the seagrass loss.

Global seabed regulator concerned by mining company’s unilateral actions
The International Seabed Authority has expressed concern following reports that the U.S. subsidiary of The Metals Company is seeking deep-sea mining permits from the U.S. instead of waiting for the global regulator’s finalization of a mining code. Mongabay recently reported that The Metals Company (TMC), based in Canada, has started a process to apply for […]
Panama conducts large illegal fishing bust in protected Pacific waters
- Panamanian authorities seized six longliner vessels on Jan. 20 for fishing illegally in protected waters. They also opened an investigation into an additional 10 vessels that surveillance data showed had apparently been fishing in the area but left by the time authorities arrived.
- The seizures took place in the Cordillera de Coiba, a marine protected area that’s part of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor, which connects several MPAs in four countries. It was the largest illegal fishing bust in the history of Panama’s MPAs.
- The vessels, whose activity is still under investigation, were Panamanian-flagged, meaning they were registered in the country, but the identity and nationality of the owners isn’t clear.
- The surveillance work in the case was done in part through Skylight, an AI-powered fisheries intelligence platform, and was supported by a group of fisheries monitoring nonprofits.

Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia: Study
- A conservation effort in eastern Indonesia helped reduce thresher shark catches by 91% among participating fishers by providing alternative income opportunities, according to a recent study.
- The program, which ran from 2021 to 2023, supported nine voluntary fishers with resources to transition to new livelihoods, leading to increased income for some, though a few struggled due to personal challenges and job instability.
- However, some fishers felt pressured by family or community expectations to continue shark fishing, and conflicts with local leaders also influenced participation.
- The study highlights the need for long-term conservation efforts that involve local communities, address socio-political challenges and receive strong government support.

Tanzania’s marine reserves offer long-term benefits to communities, study finds
- The Tanzanian government established five marine protected areas (MPAs) in the 1990s to safeguard falling fish populations.
- Over nearly 20 years, villages near these protected areas became less dependent on fishing and agriculture and saw their standard of living rise faster than communities farther away, a new study shows.
- The authors didn’t find evidence that MPAs impacted fishing success in nearby settlements.
- They hypothesized that the MPAs lifted local economies by attracting tourists.

Rep from American Samoa calls for opening protected Pacific waters to tuna fishing
- U.S. Congresswoman Amata Radewagen, who represents American Samoa, has urged the Trump administration to reopen most of Pacific Islands Heritage (PIH) Marine National Monument, a vast protected area in the Central Pacific Ocean, to industrial tuna fishing.
- Radewagen’s request came in a letter to President Donald Trump dated Jan. 23. It was accompanied by a background document that called for an executive order opening all Pacific marine national monuments and national marine sanctuaries to tuna fishing.
- Conservationists sharply criticized Radewagen’s move, while a tuna trade group supported it.
- Some details of the letter and background document, which Radewagen’s office shared with Mongabay, have not previously been publicly reported.

USAID funding cuts jeopardize creation of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area
- The U.S. foreign aid freeze blocks the establishment of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area (MPA).
- The MPA was being created under the Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA), a USAID-funded program that aimed to restore pelagic fish stocks crucial for the country’s food security.
- Ghana’s small pelagics, consisting mostly of sardines, anchovy and mackerels, make up about 60% of local fish landings and serve as a primary source of protein for almost two-thirds of the country’s population.
- The West African nation depended heavily on U.S. foreign aid to preserve its small pelagic fisheries sector, and without other funding, there could be cascading impacts on its economy.

A bird last seen by Darwin 190 years ago reappears on a Galápagos island
The Galápagos rail, a small, black, ground bird, hadn’t been seen on Floreana Island in the Galápagos since 1835, when Charles Darwin first described it. That changed recently when researchers monitoring birds on Floreana recorded the rail at three different locations. These new sightings after 190 years are likely the result of efforts to eradicate […]
Study finds signs of tuna abundance outside marine protected areas
- Experts debate the degree to which marine protected areas (MPAs) that are closed to industrial fishing boost fish population abundance or fishing success outside their borders.
- A recent study indicates that large-scale no-fishing MPAs do provide “spillover” benefits: It showed purse seiner vessels caught more tuna per unit of fishing effort in the 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) surrounding large MPAs than they would have if the MPAs did not exist.
- Such findings could strengthen the case for establishing large MPAs, which could be on the table once international agreements, including the High Seas Treaty, are rolled out in coming years.
- Some fisheries scientists argue that MPAs are not a good method of fisheries management; one critiqued the recent study.

Funerary practices in Fiji protect marine areas while honoring the deceased
- Indigenous (iTaukei) people across Fiji have historically protected their freshwater and marine areas in memory of chiefs and community members who have passed away. These are called aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs).
- Researchers published a study to shine a light on this sustainable resource management practice, which they say could present a community marine conservation solution in the region but is largely absent from scientific literature and rarely implemented as a strategy.
- FPAs differ in size and practice but can stretch from shoreline to fringing reefs and tend to ban fishing and harvesting of many species for 100 nights after they are declared.
- From 1960 to 2019, communities established a total of 188 FPAs where 44% of FPAs were protected for 100 nights, and 47% protected all resources and associated ecosystems form fishing and harvesting.

The U.S. terminated its 30×30 conservation plan but this also presents an opportunity (commentary)
- “We should be proud of the progress that was made over the last years, but conservation priorities have always evolved [to] save the whales, save the rainforest, to today’s focus on climate change and area targets,” and the recent U.S. withdrawal from the global 30×30 conservation initiative won’t change that, a new op-ed argues.
- The U.S.’s 30×30 goal was central to President Biden’s America the Beautiful for All initiative and mobilized federal funding, new protections, and an all-of-government approach to conservation.
- “We should not accept these rollbacks as permanent defeat,” the authors say, but rather as “an opportunity to make our efforts sharper and more effective.” The loss of 30×30 should not be seen as a rejection of conservation values, but as a call to reimagine a conservation strategy that works for more people in more places.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Marshall Islands protects ‘pristine’ Pacific corals with first marine sanctuary
The Marshall Islands government has announced it will protect an area of the Pacific Ocean described as one of the most “remote, pristine” marine ecosystems on Earth. The 48,000-square-kilometer (18,500-square-mile) marine sanctuary covers two of the country’s northernmost uninhabited atolls, Bikar and Bokak, and the surrounding deep sea, and it is the first federal marine […]
As Gálapagos ecotourism booms, top naturalist guide urges sustainability
- Galápagos National Park and the marine reserve protecting the islands’ surrounding waters welcome 300,000 visitors a year and support sustainable fisheries and tourism jobs for about 30,000 residents.
- The Ecuadorian government restricts the number of visitors accessing each island or dive site daily, and requires each tourist or group to hire a guide to accompany them, ensuring that maximum ecological information is shared and that park rules aimed at protecting the unique flora and fauna are followed.
- Many hundreds of Galápagos residents work year-round in this capacity, like veteran guide Marco Andres Vizcaino Garcia, who Mongabay interviewed about the challenges and opportunities he sees for ecotourism, conservation and research across these iconic islands he calls home.

2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists and policy experts from nine international research and conservation institutions share their list of the top ocean news stories from 2024.
- Hopeful developments this past year include advancing innovations in mapping technologies, legal strategies and financial instruments to protect the ocean and greater inclusion of Indigenous peoples and coastal communities into high-level ocean planning.
- At the same time, 2024 was the hottest year on record as a result of climate change, surpassing 2023, and scientists declared the fourth global coral bleaching event, a major setback for the world’s coral reef ecosystems.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

We need a North Pole Marine Reserve to secure a healthy future for Arctic waters (commentary)
- In 2024, the cod fishing moratorium on Newfoundland’s Grand Banks was lifted, 32 years after a historically significant ecological collapse of the fish’s population was caused by overfishing.
- The Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement signed in 2019 provides an example of how to address the threat from such overfishing by using the precautionary principle, international collaboration and science led evaluations of fish stocks.
- The future health of Arctic marine ecosystems can be secured by establishing a North Pole Marine Reserve, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Marine protection efforts in 2024 were still a drop in the ocean
In 2022, the world agreed at a U.N. biodiversity summit to protect 30% of Earth’s land and water by 2030. While protected areas already account for almost 15% of the planet’s land, protection for the world’s oceans is lagging far behind, at just over 8%. In 2024, several new marine protected areas (MPAs) helped nudge […]
‘These stories deserve to be told’: Shining a light on secretive fisheries managers
In 2024, the U.N.’s climate and biodiversity conferences, COP29 and COP16, drew the attention of more than 3,500 media delegates and 1,000 journalists, respectively. Though these massive global negotiations are consequential for international policy on the environment and have human rights implications, there were also international negotiations this year on managing the majority of the […]
Scientists in Bali find what could be the world’s largest coral colony
When a massive coral colony was recently discovered in the Solomon Islands, it was believed to be the largest in the world. Then last week, scientists found an even bigger one in the waters off the Indonesian island of Bali. Coral restoration nonprofit Ocean Gardener announced that Indonesian marine biologists had measured a Galaxea astreata […]
44% of reef-building coral species at risk of extinction: IUCN
Some 44% of the world’s warm-water, reef-building coral species are facing risk of extinction, according to the latest update by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This is a significant increase compared to the last assessment in 2008, when a third were considered threatened. The latest assessment covers all known coral species that build […]
Coral biodiversity hotspot at risk from fossil fuel expansion, report warns
- A new report warns that the expansion of oil, gas and liquefied natural gas projects in the Coral Triangle region in the Western Pacific risks unleashing more oil spills, direct damage to coral reefs, noise pollution and ship traffic, not to mention greenhouse gas emissions.
- More than 100 offshore oil and gas blocks are currently in production, and more than 450 additional blocks are earmarked for future exploration, according to the report. If these projects are approved, the production and exploration blocks would cover 16% of the Coral Triangle, an area the size of Indonesia, the report states.
- The report notes there is already overlap between oil and gas operations and critical conservation zones, including 16% of the Coral Triangle’s marine protected areas.
- The Coral Triangle is one of Earth’s most biodiverse regions, stretching across the waters of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands. It’s home to 76% of all known coral species, as well as numerous endangered marine species.

Local groups drive creation of new Puerto Rico marine protected area
The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico recently gained a new marine protected area off the island’s central north coast. The MPA, named Jardines Submarinos de Vega Baja y Manatí or the Vega Baja and Manatí Underwater Gardens, spans 202 square kilometers (77 square miles) and is the culmination of a 16-year effort by a coalition […]
How the oceans fared at the COP16 biodiversity conference in Colombia
- The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) took place in Cali, Colombia, from Oct. 21 to Nov. 2.
- Several oceans-related decisions, as well as the formal inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities in negotiations going forward, were bright spots at the summit, observers said.
- A key development for the ocean was the agreement, culminating eight years of negotiations, on a protocol for identifying unique areas of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters, for protection.
- Other important developments included the announcement of new marine protected areas and new funding for ocean conservation.

‘Don’t call it the high seas treaty’: Ocean biodiversity risks being sidelined in new deal
The global treaty designed for the “objective of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction,” adopted last year, has more recently gained an inaccurate, but popular, nickname, and lacks independent enforcement, according to some observers. Known officially as the BBNJ agreement (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction), it has since […]
The Azores creates largest marine protected area network in the North Atlantic
The Azores, an autonomous Portuguese archipelago, has approved legislation to create the largest marine protected area network in the North Atlantic Ocean. Spread across 287,000 square kilometers (about 110,800 square miles), the new marine protected area network covers 30% of the ocean surrounding the archipelago. Half of the MPA network is “fully protected,” while the […]
At COP16, the ocean needs action, not more promises (commentary)
- As delegates to COP16 debate conservation measures like 30×30 initiatives, a new op-ed by the environment director of Bloomberg Philanthropies, Antha Williams, and the founder of Pristine Seas, Dr. Enric Sala, says that protecting our ocean is more than a conservation measure — it’s a lifeline.
- Well-managed and highly protected marine areas (MPAs) help restore ecosystems, ensuring food security and livelihoods for the billions who depend on them, but a new analysis shows that only 8.3% of the world’s ocean is protected in this way, and that most MPAs are either protected weakly or in name only.
- “Ocean protection has never been more urgent. As leaders gather in Cali, they must ensure that ‘protecting our ocean’ means truly protecting it. The 30×30 target will only be meaningful if we protect areas effectively — not just on paper,” they argue.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

More krill fishing and no new protected areas for Antarctic seas after latest talks
- The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) held its annual meeting Oct. 14-25 in Hobart, Australia.
- The international body comprised of 27 members is charged with conserving marine life in Antarctic waters, an area that is changing rapidly due to human-caused climate change.
- In 2009, the CCAMLR pledged to create “a representative network” of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean, yet negotiations over four proposed MPAs have been at a standstill for years, due to repeated vetoes by the Chinese and Russian delegations.
- Despite a year of interim negotiations, CCAMLR members failed again at the latest meeting to reach agreement on creating any new marine protected areas and rolled back regulation of the burgeoning Antarctic krill fishery.

Hotel built without permits on disputed land riles neighboring Paracas reserve in Peru
- A controversial hotel opened its doors to the public in 2023 in the Paracas National Reserve’s buffer zone, which acts as a protective strip around the reserve to minimize any impact on the protected area.
- The Hotel Boutique Atenas is owned by a former police officer with a history of land ownership conflicts. The hotel does not appear to have the required permits from Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas, Mongabay Latam found.
- It was also built on a property currently subject to a land dispute. Marine farmers who work there claim to have been forcefully displaced from this area.

Norway poised to sail past opposition with deep-sea mining licensing plans
- In June, Norway proposed 386 license areas in the Norwegian Sea for future deep-sea mining activities.
- During the ensuing three-month public consultation period, the government received more than 70 responses from various organizations and members of the public. The responses offered a mix of views: the majority opposed Norway’s deep-sea mining plans, a minority expressed support, and many across the board called for more research.
- One entity criticizing Norway’s plans is the country’s own environment agency, which argued that there’s a lack of knowledge to safely pursue deep-sea mining while protecting the marine environment.
- Norway’s government has stated that it intends to begin issuing licenses in 2025 with a view to starting seabed mineral exploitation in 2030.

Cambodian fishers-turned-citizen scientists monitor marine mammal deaths
- In Cambodia, the NGO Khmer Ocean Life has trained residents of coastal fishing communities about threats to marine mammals so they can participate in a citizen scientist network aimed at tracking bycatch and strandings.
- At least 10 species of marine mammals are commonly found in Cambodia, including dugongs (Dugong dugon), Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) and endangered Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris); all of these species face an array of threats, including coastal development and unsustainable fishing practices.
- Bycatch is the biggest threat facing marine mammals globally, according Sarah Tubbs, Khmer Ocean Life’s co-founder and co-director, and coastal marine mammals face greater threats due to their proximity to fishing activities.
- Currently, data on marine mammal bycatch and strandings are lacking in Cambodia; the citizen scientist network will provide real-time insights into where bycatch mitigation efforts are most needed.

In Mexico, scientists race to save Marietas Islands’ corals from ocean warming
- Temperatures in the Pacific Ocean broke records in 2023 as climate change and El Niño destroyed a large part of Mexico’s Islas Marietas National Park.
- Only a fifth of the coral coverage registered in 1995 still survives, experts say.
- But scientists working on the islands have discovered individual corals that can resist higher temperatures, creating hope that the corals can recover.

A Mexican marine park shelters giant manta rays: Interview with Madalena Pereira Cabral
- For more than four years, marine biologist Madalena Pereira Cabral has been dedicated to investigating and understanding the movements of giant manta rays (Mobula birostris) in Revillagigedo National Park in the Mexican Pacific.
- Using satellite tags, the expert aims to describe these animals’ routes through the ocean and the reasons behind the fact that almost all the individual manta rays she has been studying end up leaving the marine protected area. Leaving this area exposes them to fishing pressure, which puts them at risk.
- One of the scientist’s most important findings is that giant manta rays’ movements and the groups they form are influenced by the El Niño phenomenon. This information is crucial for the conservation of this little-understood species.

$35m debt-for-nature deal aims to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs
- A $35 million debt-for-nature swap between Indonesia and the U.S. aims to conserve coral reefs in eastern Indonesia over the next nine years, with the funding offset by canceled sovereign debt payable to the U.S.
- Indonesian conservation groups and their international partners will implement ground programs to protect reefs in key areas, strengthen marine protected areas and support community livelihoods under the deal.
- While environmentalists welcomed the funding, some argued debt swaps were insufficient to address the larger environmental and development challenges faced by countries in the global south.

Argentina weighs new MPA to curb international fishing frenzy in ‘Blue Hole’
- Creation of the “Blue Hole” marine protected area in the South Atlantic Ocean would protect thousands of square kilometers of seafloor from bottom trawling and require better working conditions on vessels fishing there. But the bill that would do so has stalled in Argentina’s Congress for years and will expire in November.
- The marine protected area would cover 148,000 square kilometers (57,100 square miles) of Argentina’s continental shelf, where global fishing fleets carry out unregulated fishing, including bottom trawling.
- The Blue Hole protected area would protect the seabed from bottom trawling but continue to allow fishing in the water column above it.
- Ratification of a U.N. treaty could enable Argentina to protect the area from all forms of fishing in the future.

Shark ‘Fitbit’ captures rare footage of collision with boat
A Fitbit-like device has captured the first known footage of a boat striking a basking shark, according to a new study. The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus), the world’s second-largest fish, is endangered due to historical overfishing and government culling programs. But sightings have increased off the coast of Ireland, where basking sharks aggregate to feed […]
Conservationists look for new ways to fight oil pipelines in southern Mexico
- Pipelines currently under construction in southern Mexico have become controversial because of threats of chemical spills, their contribution to climate change and the alleged lack of consultation with local communities.
- The projects include the Southeast Gateway Gas pipeline and Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, both constructed by the Federal Electricity Commission and the Canadian company TC Energy.
- A 2018 injunction against the Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline was struck down after a court ruled the project was a matter of national security. Now, local communities and conservation groups are working to develop alliances with international groups to come up with a different legal strategy.

Conservationists upbeat as zebra shark reintroduction in Raja Ampat gathers pace
- Five zebra shark pups were born in April, conservationists announced, part of a cohort of 24 hatched this year to restock the wild population in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago.
- The breed-and-release program is part of the global ReShark initiative that sees leading aquariums around the world supply the eggs that then hatch into pups that are moved to marine nurseries in locations like Raja Ampat.
- Raja Ampat is the site for the ReShark project focusing on zebra sharks, an endangered species, and was chosen for its strong protections and its location in the heart of the Pacific Coral Triangle.
- The project, which began in 2022, aims to release 500 zebra sharks into the waters around the archipelago by 2032, the minimum number expected to host a viable population.

Using immersive media to strengthen support for the environment: An interview with Wendy Schmidt
- Wendy Schmidt, co-founder of a constellation of philanthropic initiatives, uses “systems thinking” to address ecological, social, and economic issues. She leverages her background as an interior designer and journalist to focus on sustainability and communications. Through the Schmidt Family Foundation and initiatives like the 11th Hour Project, Schmidt promotes “venture philanthropy,” emphasizing scalable, high-impact solutions to environmental problems using cutting-edge technology and interdisciplinary research.
- A new area of interest for Schmidt is immersive media and XR technologies, which she views as a means to foster public engagement with environmental issues. This is demonstrated by initiatives like Agog: The Immersive Media Institute and real-time deep-sea expedition broadcasts.
- Her philanthropic approach prioritizes inclusivity and equity, integrating traditional knowledge and contemporary science to create innovative, respectful solutions for historically marginalized communities and addressing global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss.
- Schmidt spoke with Mongabay Founder Rhett Ayers Butler in May 2024.

Efforts to save Cambodia’s coast tread water as fish stocks plummet
- Along the coast of Cambodia, illegal fishing is driving fish stocks toward collapse and fishing communities into poverty.
- The Cambodian government’s capacity for and will to counter fisheries problems are minimal, and several government fisheries reform efforts are off track or behind schedule.
- As one multimillion-dollar foreign project to bolster government capacity and revive Cambodian fish stocks comes to an end, another is just kicking off.
- Whether these efforts to salvage Cambodia’s coastal resources will pay off depends on a range of factors and actors, but so far the plans implemented haven’t been enough to stave off the impending collapse of marine fish stocks.

Fishers left with no land, no fish, in fire sale of Cambodian coast
- Coastal communities in Cambodia are facing a double threat, from land and sea, as developers evict them from their homes and farms, and trawlers encroach on their nearshore fishing grounds.
- Illegal fishing, chiefly embodied by rampant, unchecked trawling in protected and prohibited waters, has devastated fish stocks, trashed marine ecosystems and left coastal communities in dire poverty.
- At the same time, the land is being sold out from under them: Nearly half of Cambodia’s coast has been privatized since 2000, with a slew of new projects tied to politically connected wealthy investors announced in the last five years, displacing families and closing off access to the sea.
- This is the second part of a Mongabay series about challenges faced by Cambodia’s small-scale fishers along the coast.

Peru approves the creation of long-awaited marine protected area
- Experts have called the creation of the Grau Tropical Sea National Reserve, which took more than 10 years to be approved, a milestone as it is rich in biodiversity.
- Observers expect the reserve to allow for greater control and monitoring of the area to prevent illegal fishing.
- However, some industrial fishing, including trawling, is permitted in the new reserve, a decision criticized by marine conservation experts who say Peru needs “no-fishing areas.”

Bottom trawling in U.K.’s marine reserves, legally, is apparently a thing
- In 2023, commercial fishing vessels spent more than 33,000 hours operating in the U.K.’s offshore marine protected areas, mainly using trawling and dredging methods.
- Bottom trawling is permitted in most of the U.K.’s MPAs, raising questions about the effectiveness of these protections. This issue isn’t exclusive to the U.K., but also occurs throughout the European Union.
- While the U.K. government says it has made “significant progress” it protecting its marine environment through the strengthening of its MPAs, conservationists say significant work is needed to protect the sensitive marine areas in the U.K.
- According to one expert, poorly managed marine protected areas render these ecosystems less resilient to the impacts of climate change and other stressors.

In Belize, flawed conservation measures threaten small-scale fishers’ livelihoods (commentary)
- The Mesoamerican Reef stretches roughly 1,000 kilometers along the coastlines of Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Guatemala, and is an integral part of people’s livelihoods across the region.
- Belize in particular has garnered much praise for its conservation policies on the reef, which often include creation of new marine protected areas, but local fishing communities increasingly feel left out of such decisions.
- “If Belize is to live up to its image of a conservation-forward country and blue economy maven, both fisheries and marine protected areas management decisions must be made based on sound scientific advice and on the feedback of the communities,” a new op-ed says.
- This post is a commentary, the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Illegal fishing and land grabs push Cambodian coastal communities to the brink
KOH KONG, Cambodia — Join Mongabay staff writer Gerry Flynn as he embarks on a crucial investigation along Cambodia’s coast, uncovering the effects of illegal fishing and unchecked coastal development on local communities. In recent years, fish stocks in Cambodian waters have plummeted, leading to a dramatic decline in income for small-scale fishers. The primary culprits? […]
Small-scale fishers lose out to trawlers in race to catch Cambodia’s last fish
- On Cambodia’s coast, fish catches have dropped precipitously in recent years, and so have small-scale fishers’ incomes.
- Small-scale fishers say commercial trawlers have been illegally entering their fishing grounds, scraping the sea clean of life and, with it, their community’s ability to survive.
- Although fishers often blame foreign vessels, satellite data show Cambodian-, Thai- and Vietnamese-flagged trawlers making frequent illegal incursions into Cambodia’s protected waters, community fisheries or shallow inshore waters legally reserved for small-scale fishers.
- This is the first part of a Mongabay series about challenges faced by Cambodia’s small-scale fishers along the coast.

18 years on, how are sharks faring in French Polynesia’s shark sanctuary?
- While sharks are feared and threatened in many parts of the world, French Polynesia decided to protect them two decades ago by declaring its entire exclusive economic zone a massive sanctuary for sharks and rays.
- The move aligns with traditional beliefs that hold sharks as sacred animals that represent gods and the link between past and present.
- New citizen-science data offer some evidence the sanctuary is working to protect sharks, but more research is needed to confirm it.
- Sharks still face threats there from accidental bycatch and illegal fishing, and some conflicts with local fishers have emerged.

Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- The 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC) took place in Athens from April 15-17.
- Government, NGO and philanthropic delegates made 469 new commitments worth more than $11.3 billion to help protect the oceans, which was lower than in previous years.
- While some conference hosts and attendees celebrated the many successes of the OOC, there was also a shared concern that decision-makers aren’t moving fast enough to secure a sustainable future for the global ocean.

It will take 880 years to achieve UN ocean conservation goals, at this rate (commentary)
- Indigenous conservationist Angelo Villagomez will speak at the Our Ocean conference, one of the largest and highest profile conferences of its kind, this week in Athens, Greece.
- He plans to say that ocean conservation has lost momentum toward protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 and that a lot more needs to be done to address the human dimensions of conservation, including guaranteeing access rights, equity, and justice.
- “At this rate, raising the area of global ocean protection from 8% to 30% will take an additional 880 years,” he argues in a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Rewilding program ships eggs around the world to restore Raja Ampat zebra sharks
- A rewilding project aimed at saving endangered zebra sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum is sending eggs from aquarium sharks more than 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) away to nurseries in Raja Ampat.
- After hatching, the young sharks are kept in tanks until they are strong enough to release into the wild.
- Researchers hope to release 500 zebra sharks into the wild within 10 years in an effort to support a large, genetically diverse breeding population.
- A survey estimated the zebra shark had a population of 20 spread throughout the Raja Ampat archipelago, making the animal functionally extinct in the region.

Putting a value on Indonesia’s marine resources: Interview with Annisya Rosdiana & Heidi Retnoningtyas
- A group of experts led by Annisya Rosdiana from the Fisheries Resource Center of Indonesia (FRCI) is designing Indonesia’s ocean account to determine the exact abundance of the country’s maritime and fisheries resources.
- This initiative, begun in 2021, is part of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries’ efforts to improve sustainable marine management.
- Indonesia’s ocean account is also part of the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP), which aims to establish globally accepted ocean accounting methods.
- The initiative faces challenges due to data deficiencies, lack of coordination among government agencies, and weak enforcement of fisheries policies on the ground.

Indonesia unveils plan to launch a satellite network for maritime monitoring
- Indonesia plans to launch a satellite constellation starting in July to monitor its marine and fisheries resources more effectively.
- This constellation of 20 nanosatellites aims to actively manage conservation efforts and ensure economic benefits from marine resources.
- The satellites will feature radio frequency, imaging and vessel-tracking equipment, allowing officials “to know every condition in Indonesia from one [data] center.”
- Challenges such as budget cuts and low compliance among fishing companies underscore the need for technological solutions to protect Indonesia’s vast marine areas.

Should all marine reserves ban fishing? Not necessarily, new study shows
- A new study examined the performances of two types of marine protected areas: no-take MPAs, where all fishing activity is banned, and multiple-use MPAs, which allow certain forms of fishing.
- It found that no-take MPAs increased fish biomass by 58.2%, and multiple-use MPAs increased by 12.6% compared to zones without any form of protection; the study also found that both types of MPAs were more than 97% likely to improve fish populations.
- The authors suggest that multiple-use MPAs can provide “a viable and potentially equitable pathway to advance local and global conservation” when adequately designed and managed.
- However, an expert not involved in the study suggests that MPAs with full protection are more urgently needed to protect marine ecosystems like coral reefs.

Can ecotourism protect Raja Ampat, the ‘Crown Jewel’ of New Guinea?
- The world’s most biodiverse marine environment, Raja Ampat in Indonesia, is often seen as a conservation success story.
- With more than 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) of marine protected areas, the archipelago is famous for its government-supported conservation efforts, ecotourism, sapphire-blue waters, and stunning geography.
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, host Mike DiGirolamo travels to several islands in the area to speak with local communities about the benefits and challenges of ecotourism and to catch a glimpse of some amazing endemic species.

New environmental rules for Chile’s protected areas rile the salmon industry
- A law that came into force in Chile last year has upset the salmon industry for imposing new requirements for salmon farms located in protected areas.
- The industry says the new rules threaten jobs and cause uncertainty in an industry that contributes 2% of Chile’s GDP.
- The salmon industry currently has 71 applications for concessions within protected areas, most of which wouldn’t meet the conditions laid out in the new rules.
- Conservation experts say the salmon industry’s reaction to this attempt at regulation is “unfortunate,” especially given its history of environmental harm.

EU parliament expresses disapproval of Norway’s deep-sea mining plans
- On Feb. 7, members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that raises concerns about Norway’s intentions to begin deep-sea mining activities.
- Although the resolution doesn’t hold any legal power, experts say it sends a strong signal to Norway that it doesn’t have the European support it may be relying on.
- Norway’s foreign ministry said that it has taken note of the resolution, adding that, like its European partners, it is committed to “sustainable ocean management.”
- In January, Norway voted to allow deep-sea mining exploration to commence in its waters.

Cambodia sea turtle nests spark hope amid coastal development & species decline
- Conservationists in Cambodia have found nine sea turtle nests on a remote island off the country’s southwest coast, sparking hopes for the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas).
- It’s the first time sea turtle nests have been spotted in the country in a decade of species decline.
- Two nests have been excavated to assess hatching success; conservationists estimate the nests could hold as many as 1,000 eggs.
- Globally, sea turtle populations are declining, largely due to hunting for food and the animals’ shells, used in jewelry; other threats to sea turtles include tourism development, pollution and climate change.

Palau is the first nation to ratify treaty to protect high seas
- Palau has become the first nation to ratify the high seas treaty, which seeks to protect and manage ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction.
- At least two other nations, Chile and the Maldives, appear to be on the cusp of ratifying the treaty.
- A total of 60 nations must ratify the treaty for it to take effect.

First ever U.S. Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area declared in California
- The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Resighini Rancheria, and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community designated the first ever Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA) in the U.S. along the northern California coast.
- The tribes plan to steward nearly 700 mi2 (1,800 km2) of their ancestral ocean and coastal territories from the California-Oregon border to Little River near the town of Trinidad, California.
- As sovereign nations, the tribes say they’re not seeking state or federal agencies’ permission to assert tribally led stewardship rights and responsibilities; rather, they want to establish cooperative relationships recognizing their inherent Indigenous governance authority.
- The tribes aim to restore traditional ecological knowledge and management practices that sustained the area’s natural abundance before colonial disruption.

Kenyan villagers show how to harvest more octopus by fishing less
- Residents of Munje, a fishing village south of the Kenyan port of Mombasa, have established an octopus closure to ensure sustainable fishing.
- Octopus catches in the reefs just offshore had been declining as larger numbers of fishers, often using damaging techniques, hunted this profitable species.
- Previous attempts to regulate the octopus fishery had failed, but the village’s beach management unit enlisted support from an NGO to replicate successful strategies from elsewhere.
- Clearer communication and patient consensus-building have secured buy-in from the community, and the village is anticipating a second successful harvest period in February.

2023’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from six international research and conservation institutions share their list of the top ocean news stories from 2023.
- Hopeful developments this past year include a monumental global treaty to protect biodiversity on the high seas and the regulation of international trade in 97 species of sharks and rays under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
- At the same time, 2023 was the hottest year on record, with widespread bleaching of corals in the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef, and many more hot years forecast as humanity’s emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming continue.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Vast new MPAs are PNG’s first to be co-managed by Indigenous communities
- On Nov. 12, the government of Papua New Guinea declared two large new marine protected areas totaling more than 16,000 square kilometers (6,200 square miles) that reportedly triple the country’s marine area under protection.
- The announcement capped a six-year effort led by U.S.-based NGO Wildlife Conservation Society to consult with local communities about how to set up the MPAs to curtail the harvest of threatened species and restore the health of fisheries that people have depended on for generations.
- The NGO called the announcement “one of the first and most ambitious community-led MPA wins” since countries agreed last year to protect 30% of land and sea area by 2030 under the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.
- However, some observers note the potential problems that could arise from foreign-led conservation in an area experiencing poverty, conflict, and minimal government support, and there is widespread agreement that the MPAs’ success will depend on securing financing for enforcement.

Philippines oil spill may reverberate long after cleanup declared complete
- On March 1, the MT Princess Empress oil tanker sank in the Philippines, carrying 900,000 liters (237,754 gallons) of industrial fuel oil. A huge oil slick polluted local waters and prompted authorities to impose a ban on fishing that sent local communities into a tailspin.
- The wreck occurred in the Verde Island Passage, between the Philippines’ main islands of Luzon and Mindoro, an area with the highest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world.
- The spill cleanup activities are now finished, and life is returning to normal in many places. However, experts say the effects of the oil spill on the ecosystem could linger over the long term.
- The spill has reinvigorated calls for the Philippine Legislature to pass a law declaring the entire Verde Island Passage a marine protected area.

Dominica set to open world’s first reserve centered around sperm whales
- The tiny island nation of Dominica has announced that it will create a 788-square-kilometer (304-square-mile) reserve to protect endangered sperm whales.
- Most of the sperm whales that live off the coast of Dominica are part of the Eastern Caribbean Clan, which currently has a population of fewer than 300 individuals.
- Sperm whales in this region are threatened by fishing gear entanglement, pollution, boat strikes, and even tourism.
- The new reserve aims to protect whales by restricting activities such as fishing, vessel traffic and tourism, while not entirely banning them.

Not MPAs but OECMs: Can a new designation help conserve the ocean?
- To meet the landmark commitment struck last year to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, the world’s nations will have to designate many new and large marine protected areas. But there’s also a different, less familiar option for meeting that target: “other effective area-based conservation measures,” or OECMs, areas that are not necessarily designed to protect biodiversity — they just happen to do so.
- Countries are now working to identify areas that meet the criteria and register them as OECMs, including in Africa where a recent webinar highlighted the promises and pitfalls of this relatively new conservation designation.
- Conservationists say OECMs could bring many positives, including the development, recognition or financing of de facto conservation areas led by local communities or Indigenous peoples.
- However, they also warn of the dangers of “bluewashing” or creating so-called paper OECMs that fail to deliver real conservation benefits in the rush to meet the 2030 deadline.

Amid record melting, countries fail again to protect Antarctic waters
- The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the intergovernmental body charged with protecting marine life and managing fisheries in the Southern Ocean, met from Oct. 16-27 in Hobart, Australia, with 26 member countries and the European Union participating.
- For the seventh year in a row, the CCAMLR declined to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs) around Antarctica, despite having committed to creating “a representative network of MPAs” in 2009.
- Scientists, conservationists and some governments have been pushing for greater protections, concerned that the melting ice in Antarctica has reached alarming levels, jeopardizing some key populations of penguins, krill, whales, seals and other marine animals.
- The stalemate came even as a new threat to wildlife emerged in the region: the discovery last week that a virulent form of avian flu had reached Antarctic bird colonies.

Can blue bonds boost investment in ocean conservation? (commentary)
- Although they’re new vs. green bonds, the blue bond market is poised to take off as governments, companies, and investors begin to realize the importance of the blue economy and the relationship between climate change and the oceans.
- The Republic of Seychelles issued the first blue bond in 2018, with funds dedicated to expanding marine protected areas and improving fisheries governance. To date, only 25 other blue bonds have been issued.
- “The future of the blue bond market hinges on aligning financial incentives with environmental objectives, fostering innovation, and building a robust infrastructure that inspires trust and commitment from a diverse set of stakeholders,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

New Caledonia expands strictly protected coverage of its swath of the Pacific
- New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific, recently announced that it would highly protect 10% of its economic exclusive zone (EEZ).
- These new highly protected areas will be off-limits to industrial activities such as fishing, drilling and mining.
- A decade ago, New Caledonia designated its entire EEZ as a marine protected area, the Natural Park of the Coral Sea, but industrial activities were permitted across 97.6% of that area at the time.

With record ocean temps, is the Great Barrier Reef facing catastrophe?
- The inaugural international edition of the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and conference took place from October 15-22, 2023 in Sydney and Mongabay spoke with some of the most interesting presenters there.
- On this edition of the Mongabay Newscast, multiple guests working in coral reef conservation, kelp reforestation and sustainable agriculture detail their projects and challenges they’re tackling.
- Like the catastrophic Great Barrier Reef bleaching event of 2016, if the current conditions line up just right, “we could lose a huge part of the reef by February,” says guest Dean Miller of the Forever Reef Project, which is now racing to add the final coral specimens to its “biobank.”
- Guests also include John “Charlie” Veron from the Forever Reef Project, Mic Black from Rainstick, and Adriana Vergés from the Kelp Forest Alliance.

South Africa’s penguins heading toward extinction; will no-fishing zones help?
- With just 10,000 breeding pairs left, the endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) could be extinct in the wild by 2035 if the current rate of population decline continues.
- To protect the bird’s food supply and slow its population collapse, South Africa is throwing a protective no-fishing cordon around its main breeding colonies for a period of 10 years.
- But the devil is in the details, and conservationists say the cordons are too small to ensure the penguins get enough fish.
- Negotiations over whether to adjust the cordons are continuing in advance of an early 2024 deadline.

For Indonesia’s Kei islanders, a marine protected area makes perfect sense
- Fishing communities in Indonesia’s Kei Islands support the idea of a marine protected area to safeguard their main source of livelihood from unsustainable fishing and climate change impacts.
- That’s the finding of a new study by local researchers, who found that the majority of respondents said they were also willing to contribute a token annual payment for the upkeep of such an MPA.
- The researchers have proposed the MPA to the local government and council, and say they hope that if it’s accepted, it could serve as a template for other MPAs in the region.
- The waters around the Kei Islands are blessed with some of the richest fish stocks in Indonesia, but destructive fishing practices and the impacts of climate change are threatening the age-old fishing tradition here.

Indonesian village forms coast guard to protect octopus in Mentawai Islands
- An island community in Indonesia’s Mentawai archipelago has responded to dwindling octopus stocks with a seasonal fishing closure to enable recovery.
- Global demand for octopus is expected to outpace supply over the medium term, implying higher dockside prices for many artisanal fishers, if stocks can be managed sustainably.
- Maintenance of local fishing grounds also offers crucial nutritional benefits for remote coastal communities in the Mentawais, where rates of child stunting exceed Indonesia’s national average.

As climate change hits the Turkish coast, more marine reserves are needed (commentary)
- The Mediterranean Sea’s marine life is facing many threats, not least of which is the rapidly rising water temperatures.
- The sea is warming faster than the global average, and with that warmth comes unwelcome tropical visitors like lionfish, which prey on native marine biodiversity, spurring conservationists to focus fishing pressure on these voracious predators, but that’s not all they’re doing.
- “We believe the expansion of the marine protected area network is now an essential next step, and we are working with the Turkish government to make this happen,” one such conservationist writes in a new op-ed.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Seventy-plus nations sign historic high seas treaty, paving way for ratification
- As of Sept. 22, 76 nations and the European Union had signed the high seas treaty while gathered at the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York.
- After signing the treaty, each nation must ratify it. Then, once 60 nations have ratified the treaty, it will come into force after 120 days.
- The high seas encompass two-thirds of the world’s oceans, but only 1% currently has protected status.

Skepticism as Cambodia expands protected areas by more than a million hectares
- Cambodia expanded the coverage of its protected areas by 1.06 million hectares (2.62 million acres) in July and August, a flurry of subdecrees shows.
- However, civil society groups have expressed skepticism about the lack of consultation involved in the process and the ability of authorities to police this much larger area, given the ineffective enforcement of existing protected areas.
- Much of the newly protected land appears to be corridors neighboring existing protected areas, where homes and farms are already established.
- This has raised concerns about a surge in conflicts over land and access to natural resources, particularly affecting Indigenous communities.

Study: Protecting marine life is a big benefit to local communities, too
- A new study of the Mesoamerican Reef in the Caribbean found that marine protected areas (MPAs) are not only beneficial for conservation but can also lift up the socioeconomic status of the local and Indigenous communities that live near them.
- Led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the study used data from the Healthy Reef Initiative and USAID to analyze social and economic factors like income, food security and the rates of stunted growth connected to chronic malnutrition in children.
- One reason that MPAs benefit local and Indigenous communities is that no-take zones reach their carrying capacity as fish populations grow and recover, creating “spillover” into waters without fishing restrictions.

‘Mud, muck and death’: Cambodia’s plan to obstruct trawlers and revive local fishing
- On Cambodia’s coast, a local NGO is building concrete underwater structures in an effort to deter destructive illegal trawlers that kill most everything in the habitat.
- The structures also serve as artificial reefs that provide small nurseries for fish, sponges, grasses and other species.
- An ambitious government plan will erect the structures near 25 fishing communities along the country’s coastline in a bid to revive Cambodia’s nearshore marine fisheries, besieged by years of destructive illegal fishing and increasing development.
- If successful, the plan could bring an influx of funding to fishing communities hit hard by the destruction of marine habitats and loss of income that have forced many to leave in search of other work.

Airport proposal for Malaysian island doesn’t fly with conservationists
- A proposal to build an international airport on Tioman Island in Malaysia would destroy coral reefs in the heart of one of the country’s most biodiverse marine parks and have wide-ranging impacts on local communities and biodiversity.
- Plans for the airport were rejected by authorities in 2018 due to the scale of the environmental impacts it would cause, but government officials are again considering an environmental impact assessment for the development.
- Many of the island’s 3,000 residents have been left in the dark about the plans, which could wipe out livelihoods in two of the island’s seven villages.
- Critics of the project recommend authorities focus on upgrading an existing airstrip on the island to accept larger aircraft and in the meantime invest in sustainable, meaningful, nature-based tourism.

How to ‘flip’ a paper park: Success in the North Sea carries lessons
- A recent study found that 27% of surveyed marine protected areas (MPAs) were likely “paper parks” that fail to confer real ecological protection.
- There are different kinds of paper parks, including those with overly permissive rules and those where the rules are not followed or enforced.
- Discussions among conservationists have turned to how to “flip” paper parks to make them more effective. This can require changing park rules, often only through sustained pressure on governments, or improvements in MPA management, which can be costly.
- It’s a crucial time for figuring out how to make MPAs more effective; in December, nearly 200 countries signed a landmark agreement to conserve 30% of Earth’s land and sea by 2030, committing to more than triple MPA coverage within seven years.

Study finds locally managed marine areas in Fiji yield mixed results
- A study found that Fijian communities engaged in the country’s locally managed marine areas network, known as FLMMA, exhibited strengths in the mechanisms believed to advance conservation efforts, such as community participation in decision-making and financial support.
- However, it also found that FLMMA villages didn’t necessarily experience improved economic well-being, wealth, food security or even better ecological outcomes for marine resources.
- The authors say they hope the results will encourage practitioners to reassess community-based marine management projects to understand how they can be modified for success.
- Fiji has one of the most extensive LMMA networks in the world, collectively covering more than 10,000 square kilometers across the country’s territory.

Tangled in marine debris, skate egg cases dry up and die on Peruvian beaches
- A new study has found that shorttail fanskate populations may be being affected by plastic pollution.
- The skates mistake abandoned fishing nets and other debris for seaweed and attach their eggs to them, unaware that the debris could wash up on the shore where the eggs will dry out.
- Shorttail fanskates (Sympterygia brevicaudata) are considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Illegal fishing for fish meal widespread in Ecuador marine reserve
- Industrial fishing is prohibited in the coastal waters of the Cantagallo-Machalilla Marine Reserve in Ecuador’s Manabí province, which is home to numerous threatened species.
- Yet between November 2020 and March 2022, more than half of the government alerts for unauthorized fishing in Manabí province occurred within the marine reserve, according to a Mongabay analysis.
- Local residents say industrial ships enter the reserve’s waters to illegally harvest small pelagic fish like anchovies and sardines for processing into fish meal, despite a government order prohibiting this practice. They say the fish are dwindling, reducing food for people and wildlife alike.
- Created in 2015, the marine reserve’s management plan is still considered a draft, leaving the reserve without the management mechanisms needed to control the illegal fishing.

License to Log: Cambodian military facilitates logging on Koh Kong Krao and across the Cardamoms
- Cambodia’s largest island, Koh Kong Krao, off its southwest coast, is covered in largely untouched old-growth forest, but recent satellite imagery shows deforestation is spreading.
- Much of the forest cover loss is in areas tightly controlled by Marine Brigade 2, a navy unit stationed on the island that has historically been accused of facilitating the illicit timber trade.
- Residents of the island said the navy controls almost every aspect of life there, with provincial officials afraid to intervene or investigate the military’s actions on Koh Kong Krao.
- Cambodia’s military has long been a key factor in illegal logging across the country, and reporters found evidence of its continued involvement in logging across the Cardamoms.

New index identifies marine reserves that are protected in theory only
- Marine protected area (MPA) status doesn’t guarantee that conservation efforts are effective, according to new research that looks at the de facto situation of preserved areas around the world.
- A third of the MPAs analyzed appear likely to be protected only on paper, most of them in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Oceania, and the Indian Ocean.
- Researchers created a Paper Park Index (PPI) based on interviews with local stakeholders and their perceptions of fishing levels within MPAs, with the PPI showing the difference between the theoretical goals of the MPAs and the reality on the water.
- The new methodology could help provide more realistic information about the effectiveness of MPAs and support further conservation efforts, the study suggests.

Study: Indonesia’s extensive network of marine reserves are poorly managed
- Indonesia has put nearly a tenth of its waters under some form of protection, and intends to expand this to nearly a third by 2045.
- However, a study has found that none of Indonesia’s existing marine protected areas demonstrates effective and sustainable management, and that the government is off-pace to reach its 30% target by 2045.
- Key challenges in the effective management shortcomings, the study says, are lack of funding and poor financial planning for the MPAs.
- Indonesia is home to some of the most diverse marine life on the planet, which plays an important role in the domestic and global supply of seafood.

It’s time to embrace community-led conservation vs. the colonial kind (commentary)
- Conservation NGOs often enter countries like Fiji and advise local and Indigenous communities on how to protect their land and sea territories, or worse, acquire land and preclude the traditional residents from it.
- More NGOs are embracing community-led conservation, though, and we must embrace this, a new op-ed by a former Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji argues.
- “Fiji does not need new ideas on how to protect their ‘iqoliqoli’ (marine areas). Instead, Fiji has a lot to teach the rest of the world,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Ecuador to boost protection of Galápagos in biggest debt-for-nature deal ever
- Ecuador has launched a debt-for-nature deal that will wipe out some $1 billion in interest payments in exchange for boosting its protection of the waters around the Galápagos Islands.
- Much of the funding will focus on managing the newly established Hermandad Marine Reserve, the existing Galápagos Marine Reserve, and sustainable fishing and climate resilience efforts.
- The deal would also finance an endowment to generate ongoing funding for marine conservation in the Galápagos Islands.
- This is the world’s largest debt-for-nature deal to date.

Hawaiian communities restore Indigenous conservation, from mountains to sea
- In Hawai’i, an Indigenous stewardship and conservation system known as ahupua’a is slowly being revived on a mountain-to-sea scale in partnership with U.S. government agencies.
- Three Indigenous communities that have successfully reintroduced the ahupua’a system are seeing some conservation successes, such as a 310% increase in the biomass of surgeonfish and an increase in the Bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis) population.
- The inclusion of Indigenous Hawaiian conservation, social and spiritual values, like Aloha kekahi i kekahi, have been key to building these conservation areas and forming better working relations with the government.

Colombia: Scientists explore remote seamounts to protect hammerhead sharks
- Since 2000, the Malpelo and Other Marine Ecosystems Foundation has conducted 40 expeditions on and around Malpelo Island, a rocky outpost about 500 kilometers (310 miles) off Colombia’s Pacific coast.
- These expeditions have allowed the foundation to gather information about the area’s population of scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) and to discover this critically endangered species’ breeding areas.
- They’ve also influenced the expansion of the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary and UNESCO’s declaration of it as a World Heritage Site.
- Malpelo Foundation researchers hope their new expeditions to the area’s seamounts, which form a vital corridor for migratory species, will inform the ongoing fight against illegal fishing that threatens the hammerheads and other marine fauna.

Home to rare corals, a Chilean fjord declines in spite of protection
- The Comau Fjord, in the Chilean region of Patagonia, is one of the only sites in the world where the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus lives just 5 meters (16 feet) below the sea surface.
- The easy access to these animals, which elsewhere live at extreme depths, motivated a group of scientists to study them.
- Their research brought new information to light about the corals’ biology and also revealed that the Comau Fjord is at serious risk.

Norway proposes opening Germany-sized area of its continental shelf to deep-sea mining
- Norway has proposed opening up a Germany-sized part of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining.
- The area holds considerable quantities of minerals needed for renewable energy technologies, such as magnesium, cobalt, copper, nickel and rare-earth metals.
- The Norwegian government and industries say they will take a precautionary approach to this deep-sea mining.
- However, critics say plans should be progressing more slowly to properly assess the marine environment and the possible impacts of mining, and the Norwegian government received numerous responses during a public consultation period arguing that the country should not mine its deep sea.

Maps of sharks’ journeys show marine protected areas alone won’t save them
- A team of scientists has monitored the movement of 47 silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) tagged with satellite trackers in the Galápagos Marine Reserve off Ecuador.
- They observed that the sharks travel longer distances than previously known and spend long periods of time in unprotected areas that have a high degree of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
- This leaves them vulnerable to fishing pressure, the researchers say. Silky sharks are the second most commonly sold species in the international shark fin trade.
- Although governments are expanding and connecting protected areas in the region, experts say better management of the oceans and of fishing is needed to save threatened shark species from extinction.

New MPA Tic-Toc Golfo Corcovado a safe haven for blue whales in Chile
- Chile declared some 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) in the Gulf of Corcovado in Northern Patagonia a marine protected area, the highest category of protection.
- The area is an important feeding and breeding ground for endangered blue whales as well as home to numerous other marine mammal species.
- However, it represents only a small fraction of the blue whales’ range, so scientists say additional conservation efforts must continue.

As U.N. members clinch historic high seas biodiversity treaty, what’s in it?
- On March 4, U.N. member states reached a landmark agreement on a legally binding treaty aimed at protecting the international waters of Earth’s oceans.
- The deal, more than 15 years in the making, was finalized after talks overran their two-week schedule into a final, grueling 36-hour negotiation marathon.
- Delegates reached consensus on multiple thorny matters, including a framework for establishing and maintaining a network of marine protected areas on the high seas and mechanisms to share benefits from high seas resources fairly among nations.
- For the new high seas treaty to be implemented, delegates must officially adopt the treaty text at an unscheduled next meeting, and then a minimum of 60 states must ratify it, a process that could take months or years.

Panama ocean conference draws $20 billion, marine biodiversity commitments
- The eighth annual Our Ocean Conference took place in Panama March 2-3.
- Participants made 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors.
- One key announcement came from Panama, which said it would protect more than 54% of its marine region.

Machine learning makes long-term, expansive reef monitoring possible
- Conservationists can now monitor climate impacts to expansive marine ecosystems over extended periods of time, a task that used to be impossible, using a tool developed by scientists in the U.S.
- The machine learning tool, called Delta Maps, provides a new way to assess which reefs might be best suited for survival, and which play a key role in delivering larvae to others, and therefore should be targeted for preservation efforts, according to the scientists.
- The scientists used the tool to examine the impacts of climate change on connectivity and biodiversity in the Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, the planet’s most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem.
- The authors also noted that the Coral Triangle had more opportunities for rebuilding biodiversity, thanks to the region’s dynamic climate component, than anywhere else on the planet.

Fishing communities create marine refuges to protect Chile’s biodiversity
- In Chile’s Valparaíso region, artisanal fishers have created grassroots marine reserves to protect marine biodiversity.
- The areas are small, some of them just 15 hectares (37 acres) in size, but they provide a haven for marine creatures to grow and reproduce.
- This growth can contribute to regenerating coastal biodiversity, making the region more resilient to climate change, while the fisherfolk can benefit from a greater availability of resources in the long term.

Indonesia opens its ‘ocean account’ for sustainable marine management
- The Indonesian government is designing a new scheme to measure over time the benefits provided by the country’s marine and coastal ecosystems for sustainable ocean management.
- The ocean accounting system will become the standard indicator for the government in policymaking and zoning when it comes to the country’s fisheries, conservation areas, and marine essential ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and coral reefs.
- Indonesia’s ocean account initiative is also part of an international collaboration under the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP), which aims to “develop globally recognized and standardized methods for ocean accounting by 2023.”
- Indonesia has partnered with another GOAP member, Norway, on long-term technical cooperation on ocean accounting.

More than half of reef sharks and rays threatened with extinction, study shows
- More than half of known species of coral reef sharks and rays are already threatened with extinction, mostly because of overfishing, according to new research.
- The researchers reported that population trends were declining for 94 coral reef shark and ray species; of the two groups, rays were more threatened than sharks.
- Reef sharks and rays are typically caught for human consumption, and to a lesser extent for use in apparel or accessories, in aquarium displays, as food for domestic animals, and in traditional medicine.
- The study calls for urgent urgent measures to improve regional fisheries and marine protected areas management.

More marine protected areas planned for Indonesia’s Maluku after 2022 spree
- The Maluku Islands in Indonesia will protect more swaths of their seas this year, following from the designation of five marine protected areas in 2022 alone.
- The new protected areas will cover the waters around the western island of Buru, where fishing activity will be limited to traditional fishers using sustainable gear.
- Indonesia currently has 284,000 square kilometers (110,000 square miles) of marine area under protection, roughly two-thirds of its target of protecting 10% of its waters.
- The Maluku Islands sit within the Pacific Coral Triangle, an area renowned for its richness of corals and reef fish.

Indonesian ‘island auction’ to go ahead despite concerns over permits
- Shares of a private company with the rights to develop tourism facilities within a marine reserve in Indonesia have reappeared for auction later this month despite the government’s plan to annul an agreement with the firm.
- The government plans to revoke developer PT LII’s 2015 memorandum of understanding with local authorities, including the rights to develop the Widi Islands for 35 years with a possible extension of another 20 years.
- The company’s plan has met mounting concerns in Indonesia, with experts saying it would be essentially selling the islands off to foreigners and cutting off local fishing communities from a key source of livelihood.
- The Widi Islands are also part of a marine reserve in the Pacific Coral Triangle, a region that’s home to the highest diversity of corals and reef fishes in the world.

2022’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2022.
- Hopeful developments this past year include the launch of negotiations on the world’s first legally binding international treaty to curb plastic pollution, a multilateral agreement to ban harmful fisheries subsidies and a massive expansion of global shark protections.
- At the same time, the climate crises in the ocean continued to worsen, with a number of record-breaking marine heat waves and an accelerated thinning of ice sheets that could severely exacerbate sea level rise, underscoring the need for urgent ocean-climate actions.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

California’s network of marine protected areas must be strengthened and expanded (commentary)
- During December 2022, California is holding its first 10-year review of its marine protected areas network, to be used to inform the network’s future.
- Previously, Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out a goal to protect 30% of the state’s land, water, and sea space over the decade.
- “As state regulators take account of the progress it has made of protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife, California should expand and strengthen upon its MPA success stories to ensure 30% of its state waters are fully protected by 2030,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Strong marine protected areas credited with manta ray surge in Indonesia
- Manta ray populations are thriving in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago, a new population assessment shows, highlighting the importance of marine protected areas to the species’ conservation.
- The study showed that reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) populations saw up to 10.7% compound annual increase from 2009-2019 in the region, even as global ray and shark populations undergo a sweeping decline.
- The study authors attribute this to well-planned and -implemented conservation measures by Indonesian authorities, conservation groups and local communities.
- The finding chimes with the discovery earlier this year that manta ray populations are also flourishing in Komodo National Park, another tightly regulated protected area in Indonesia.

Island shopping: Cambodian officials buy up the Cardamoms’ coast
- A buying spree by Cambodia’s wealthy and politically connected elites has put the fate of a string of small islands in the balance, affecting the livelihoods of local fishers.
- Resort developments threaten the Koh S’dach archipelago’s seagrass and coral ecosystems, which harbor rare and threatened marine life.
- Local fishers have also found themselves locked out of their traditional fishing grounds by the developers, leading to a loss of earnings.
- This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network where Gerald Flynn is a fellow.

Indonesian authorities nip island auction in marine reserve in the bud
- Indonesian officials have sought to neuter an apparent bid to auction off private tourism enclaves to foreign investors in a marine reserve in the country’s east.
- Shares of Bali-based developer PT Leadership Islands Indonesia (LII) had been up for bidding via Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions in New York from Dec. 8-14, but the deputy environment minister said this had now been annulled.
- LII holds the rights to develop tourism facilities in the Widi Islands, but not to sell off individual islands to foreign investors, which is against Indonesian law.
- The Widi Islands are part of a marine reserve in the Pacific Coral Triangle, and while most of the islands are uninhabited, they hold high social, cultural and livelihood importance for local fishing communities.

Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?
- The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, largely due to a lack of sardines, their main food.
- A colony in South Africa’s busy Algoa Bay is suffering a population crash that researchers say coincides with the introduction of ship-to-ship refueling services that have made the bay one of the noisiest in the world.
- They say theirs is the first study showing a correlation between underwater noise pollution and a seabird collapse.
- Current studies are investigating whether the ship noise is interfering with the penguins’ foraging behavior and their ability to find fish.

After 14 years of advocacy, the DRC president finally signs new Indigenous peoples law (commentary)
- On Wednesday, the president of the DRC, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi, signed and promulgated the new law on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Indigenous Pygmy Peoples.
- For the country’s Indigenous pygmy people, this is the first time that they are legally recognized as a distinct people with rights and access to free, prior and informed consent before the government and industries can exploit their land.
- But not everything will change in the blink of an eye and implementation of the law will take time, says Patrick Saidi, one of the Indigenous coordinators that worked to get the protections enshrined into law.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin
- Two African penguin chicks have hatched at a nature reserve in South Africa where conservationists have been working for years to entice the endangered birds to breed.
- The colony was abandoned more than 10 years ago after a caracal killed a number of penguins.
- The recent hatching comes at a time when survival prospects for Africa’s only resident penguin species look grim, due mainly to declining food stocks.
- But encouraging new colonies at sites close to abundant food sources could help to bring the species back from the brink.

Negotiations to conserve Antarctic Ocean end in stalemate on many issues
- The 41st annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the intergovernmental body charged with conserving marine life in the Southern Ocean and managing fisheries there, ended Nov. 4 with little progress made on several key issues.
- In 2009 CCAMLR committed to creating a network of marine protected areas to preserve Antarctic ecosystems. It established one that year and another in 2016, but since then China and Russia have repeatedly blocked the creation of additional protected areas, as well as other conservation-related measures.
- The commission also failed to reach the consensus required to enact new regulations for the krill and toothfish fisheries, or to protect a vast nesting area for icefish discovered earlier this year.
- CCAMLR members did agree to designate eight new vulnerable marine ecosystems, areas home to slow-growing organisms such as corals, sponges, brittle stars and feather stars that are now permanently protected from bottom fishing.

Small island, big ocean: Niue makes its entire EEZ a marine park
- In April, Niue, a small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, designated its entire exclusive economic zone — an area about the size of Vietnam — as a multiple-use marine park called Niue Nukutuluea.
- Forty percent of the park is a no-take marine protected area; a smaller slice is managed by local villages. And about 56% of the park is a general-use zone where commercial fishing and other activities, including possibly deep-sea mining, could take place.
- The country has developed an unusual mechanism to fund the park, and is gathering support to confront the perennial challenge of monitoring and compliance in technologically advanced ways.

Why fish are disappearing from Amazonian waters
- From the coastline to freshwater streams, people living in Amazonia say industrial fishing, deforestation, hydroelectric dams and climate change have reduced fish populations.
- Industrial fishing is one of the main explanations for the low numbers. Fishermen report that large boats are trawling with nets up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) in length that do not allow fish to reach the shore.
- Other challenges local fishers are facing have to do with the effects of climate change on rivers and mangroves, including increased temperature and lower pH and oxygen levels in the water, which make it harder for species to survive.
- Hydroelectric dams are a threat to inland Amazonian fish species because they interrupt migratory flow, leading to genetically compromised populations; this phenomenon has been seen in the Xingu River, which, dammed by the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, is suffering from falling fish reproduction rates.

To protect the Southern Ocean, leaders must act now (commentary)
- This week in Australia, global leaders have the opportunity to protect Antarctica’s vast and biodiversity rich Southern Ocean at the annual Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting.
- Emperor penguins, orcas, crabeater seals, albatross, and krill are among the species that call this region home, but the latter is a key one that plays a huge role in the health of Antarctica, since it underpins the food web.
- The commercial krill fishery produces fishmeal for pets, people and aquaculture and has become concentrated in recent years, with most of the catch taken from small, nearshore areas where wildlife feed: “We need Southern Ocean MPAs and well-designed fishery measures to effectively conserve fish populations, habitats and wildlife,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

To boost fish catches, try banning fishing, new study shows
- A new study has found that the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawai‘i, the world’s largest contiguous marine protected area, increased the catch rates of yellowfin and bigeye tunas in nearby fisheries due to a “spillover effect.”
- Between 2016 and 2019, catches of yellowfin tuna increased 54% in waters near the MPA, and catch rates for bigeye tuna rose by 12%.
- Another study found that MPAs not only increase the catches for fisheries, but also yield other benefits, like the enhancement of carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
- However, both studies suggest that the best results come from fully protected MPAs that don’t allow fishing, and that underprotected MPAs yield “little to no social or ecological benefits.”

As Indonesia protects more marine areas, top priority is management: experts
- As Indonesia aims to protect more of its seas, scientists say in a new paper that effective management of these marine areas must be the government’s top priority in a world faced with global climate change and biodiversity crises.
- The researchers say that marine protected areas must protect the natural resources, provide long-term benefit to local people, and be equipped with a zoning system, monitoring, surveillance, adequate staff capacity, facilities, and self-financing.
- The Indonesian government has pledged to secure 10% of the country’s territorial waters towards biodiversity protection and sustainable use by the end of this decade, and triple the size by 2045.
- The move is part of the country’s contribution to the global “30 by 30” conservation goal, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s seas and lands by 2030.

‘Destructive & flawed’: Claire Nouvian on bottom trawling’s many impacts
- Goldman Environmental Prize winner Claire Nouvian joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the many impacts of bottom trawling and a historic policy shift by the European Commission to rein in the practice.
- This kind of fishing is known for damaging deep-water coral reef ecosystems and marine biodiversity, and for having a heavy carbon footprint.
- Nouvian discusses the successful activism of her organization that won an EU-wide ban on bottom trawling below 800 meters (875 yards) after seven years of grassroots organizing. She also discusses what individuals can do if they want to support more sustainable fishing practices.

Indonesia to update conservation efforts for aquarium favorite cardinalfish
- Indonesia’s fisheries ministry says it is working on a new conservation road map for Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a popular species in the aquarium trade globally that is found only in the waters around the country’s Banggai Archipelago.
- The fish is caught in large numbers — an estimated 500,000 to 900,000 individuals annually — and is exported mainly to the United States and Europe.
- The updated conservation plan will evaluate the previous five-year plan for the cardinalfish, and use this to inform the national strategy for the next five years, the ministry said.
- The cardinalfish’s habitat, the Banggai Archipelago, is considered to be in the heart of the Pacific Coral Triangle, which is home to the highest diversity of corals and reef fishes anywhere on the planet.

Future reefs: A manifesto to save the world’s coral gardens (commentary)
- Coral reefs cover less than 3% of the ocean but contain a quarter of all marine life. Next to tropical rainforests, they are the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth.
- Fifty of the world’s leading scientists recently laid out a roadmap to save the world’s coral reefs.
- With urgent climate action and by following this roadmap, these oases of beauty may retain critical marine biodiversity and provide a lifeline for coastal communities into the next century and beyond, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

‘Mind-blowing’ marine heat waves put Mediterranean ecosystems at grave risk
- A recent study reveals the widespread effects of climate change-driven marine heat waves on the ecological communities of the Mediterranean Sea.
- Rises in sea surface temperatures as high as 5° Celsius (9° Fahrenheit) above normal have caused die-offs in 50 different taxonomic groups of animals from around the Mediterranean Basin.
- These far-reaching impacts of the warming sea could devastate the fisheries on which many of the Mediterranean region’s 400 million people rely.
- Researchers advocate bolstering and expanding marine protected areas. Although they can’t hold back the warmer waters that have proven deadly to the sea’s rich biodiversity, these sanctuaries can help ensure that these species don’t have to cope simultaneously with other pressures, such as overfishing or pollution.

Maldives shark-fishing ban tested by ebbing support from small-scale fishers
- A 2010 blanket ban on shark fishing in the Maldives doesn’t enjoy support from artisanal reef fishers, a new study suggests.
- Many fishers blamed sharks for stealing their catches, eating into their earnings, and damaging their fishing equipment — problems they perceive have worsened since the creation of a shark sanctuary.
- These negative perceptions could result in lower compliance with fishing restrictions and undermine efforts to revive shark populations in Maldivian waters.
- Pole-and-line skipjack tuna fishers reported the greatest support for the shark fishing ban because sharks corral tuna to the ocean surface, making them easier to catch.

Delegates come close, but fail again to clinch high seas protection treaty
- At the close of two weeks of negotiations on Aug. 26 in New York, delegates from around the world had failed to net consensus on a high-stakes, legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas.
- These areas beyond national jurisdictions comprise two-thirds of the global ocean and are a vast, resource-rich global commons. Yet there is no comprehensive, agreed-upon framework governing resource extraction or conservation there.
- Top sticking points included fair access to marine resources for all and how to establish marine protected areas on the high seas.
- The meeting was the fifth of four planned diplomatic sessions that began in 2017 following more than 10 years of discussion. It ended with a commitment to reconvene before the year is over.

Indonesia announces plan to protect 10% of its seas by 2030, and 30% by 2045
- Indonesia will expand its marine protected area coverage to 325,000 square kilometers (125,000 square miles) by the end of this decade, or 10% of its total territorial waters, the fisheries ministry says.
- From 2030 to 2045, the government plans to triple that coverage to 975,000 km2 (376,000 mi2).
- An oceans conservation activist has welcomed the plan, but says the government needs to be able to square it with a recently announced fisheries management policy that critics say threatens the sustainability of fish stocks.
- The activist also emphasized the need to ensure the quality of the protection rather than the quantity.

Climate change and overfishing threaten once ‘endless’ Antarctic krill
- Antarctic krill are one of the most abundant species in the world in terms of biomass, but scientists and conservationists are concerned about the future of the species due to overfishing, climate change impacts and other human activities.
- Krill fishing has increased year over year as demand rises for the tiny crustaceans, which are used as feed additives for global aquaculture and processed for krill oil.
- Experts have called on the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the group responsible for protecting krill, to update its rules to better protect krill; others are calling for a moratorium on krill fishing.
- Antarctic krill play a critical role in maintaining the health of our planet by storing carbon and providing food for numerous species.

‘We’ve got to help the oceans to help us’: Q&A with deep-sea explorer Dawn Wright
- On July 12, oceanographer and geographer Dawn Wright descended 10,919 meters (35,823 feet) below the surface of the ocean to the deepest known part of the planet, Challenger Deep, alongside deep-sea explorer Victor Vescovo.
- Wright was the first Black person to make the voyage to Challenger Deep, where she and Vescovo documented several findings, including the discovery of a beer bottle on the seabed.
- The goal of the expedition was to test out a side-scan sonar designed to go down to 11,000 m (nearly 36,100 ft) that can take detailed images of the seafloor, which was successfully achieved.
- Mongabay’s Elizabeth Claire Alberts spoke to Wright before and after her expedition to learn more about the voyage’s personal significance to Wright, the challenges in venturing this far down into the ocean, and the significance of understanding more about the deep-sea.

Where do the guitarfish go? Scientists and fishers team up to find out
- In late March and early April of this year, a team of researchers and local fishers caught, sampled and released more than 50 sharks and rays in the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau, including several threatened species.
- A first for conservation, researchers tagged members of a critically endangered ray species, the blackchin guitarfish (Glaucostegus cemiculus), with satellite transmitters.
- Team leader Guido Leurs says the research will provide crucial information for policymakers to better protect sharks and rays in Guinea-Bissau.
- Fisheries management within the archipelago, which spans 12,950 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) and 88 islands, is a challenge for the West African nation.

U.N. Ocean Conference ends with promises. Is a sea change coming?
- The second United Nations Oceans Conference took place from June 27 to July 1 in Lisbon, focusing on the protection of life under water, as dictated by U.N. Sustainable Development Goal No. 14.
- The conference was originally meant to have taken place in 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- While nations, NGOs and other entities made hundreds of conservation commitments, including pledges to expand marine protected areas, end destructive fishing practices, and fund conservation efforts, experts say there is still a lot of work to be done to protect our oceans.
- Coalitions of small-scale fishers and Indigenous peoples also voiced their concerns about being excluded from important conservation dialogues.

A year before deep-sea mining could begin, calls for a moratorium build
- At the U.N. Ocean Conference taking place this week in Lisbon, momentum has been building in support of a moratorium on deep-sea mining, an activity projected to have far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and global fisheries.
- The Pacific island nation of Palau launched an alliance of countries that support a moratorium, which Fiji and Samoa subsequently joined.
- A global network of parliamentarians has also banded together to support a moratorium and to look for a legal way to enforce it.
- As things stand, deep-sea mining could begin a year from now, with the International Seabed Authority, the body tasked with regulating the activity, drawing up the rules that would allow mining to commence.

Ray care center: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat a key nursery for young reef mantas
- Scientists have published new evidence confirming that Wayag Lagoon in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago is a globally rare nursery for juvenile reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi).
- Visual observations from 2013 to 2021 show that juvenile reef manta rays are repeatedly encountered in the small, shallow and sheltered lagoon, without the presence of adult individuals; the young rays spend months at a time inside the lagoon, never venturing out.
- The findings have prompted marine authorities in Indonesia to start revising the management of the lagoon to safeguard the manta nursery zone, with regulations being drawn up to limit disturbances to the young rays.
- Both oceanic and reef manta rays are protected species under Indonesian law, which prohibits their catch and the trade of any of their body parts.

‘Tendrils of hope’ for the ocean: Q&A with conservationist Charles Clover
- The latest book by Charles Clover, “Rewilding the Sea,” published by Penguin Random House UK, tells stories of what can happen when governments, scientists, conservationists and fishers work together to protect and restore the ocean, generating hope for the future.
- While the term “rewilding” usually refers to restoration efforts that take place on land, Clover argues that the sea can also be rewilded through the reinstatement of ecosystems as well as by simply allowing nature to repair itself.
- He further argues that rewilding can be achieved through new approaches to fisheries management, the creation of marine protected areas, and the protection of parts of the ocean known to sequester carbon.
- While the book acknowledges that the oceans are facing a tremendous number of pressures due to human activities, Clover calls the destruction of ocean life the “world’s largest solvable problem.”

First Nation reclaims territory by declaring Indigenous protected area in Canada
- The Mamalilikulla First Nation has declared part of its traditional territory on British Columbia’s Central Coast that it lost to colonialism to be an Indigenous protected and conserved area (IPCA).
- The Nation views the declaration to be a step toward sovereignty and is seeking “co-governance” with Canadian federal and provincial governments; the latter typically talk of “co-management,” which would retain settler authority.
- Canada and British Columbia have their own policies for protecting nature, but some conservationists and Indigenous groups argue that Indigenous peoples are better at sustainable management. The area of the IPCA has been degraded by logging and fishing.
- The Mamalilikulla have a plan to restore the land and sea and are calling for a five-year moratorium on logging and immediate protection of a marine area called Hoeya Sill, home to rare corals and sponges.

Community participation trumps penalties in protecting seascapes, study suggests
- Giving Indigenous peoples and local communities a say in the design and management of marine protected areas boosts conservation outcomes, a new study indicates.
- The study focused on the governance of four MPAs in Indonesia’s Bird’s Head Seascape and found that fish biomass tended to be higher in areas where these communities are more involved in decision-making and had more local management rights.

For 20 years, Comoros had only 1 national park. It’s now creating 5 more
- Comoros, an archipelagic nation in the western Indian Ocean, is dramatically expanding its network of protected areas (PAs) from one to six, including three new marine protected areas (MPAs).
- The idea is to replicate the co-management approach at Mohéli National Park, the country’s first and currently only national park, created in 2001 as an MPA.
- However, Comoros’s experience with Mohéli provided no clear blueprint for supporting communities whose traditional rights are curtailed because of the protected areas, or for sustainably funding for such a vast PA network.

For reef mantas, Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is a ray of hope
- A new study has found that Komodo National Park in Indonesia has an aggregation of 1,085 reef manta rays, currently classified as a vulnerable species.
- Experts say that locations such as Komodo will play an important role in safeguarding the species from extinction.
- Manta rays are under pressure from fishing activity, including targeted fishing and bycatch.
- However, experts say the species is also impacted by tourism and the changing dynamics of the ocean.

For more fish and healthier coral in Bali, focus on communities and connectivity: Study
- A new review highlights improvements that can be made to the conservation of Bali’s coral reefs, which face multiple local stressors alongside warming waters and coral bleaching.
- While there are more coral-focused conservation initiatives in Bali than elsewhere in Indonesia, not all of them are successful, the authors say, leaving much room for improvement, particularly regarding design and management of protected areas.
- The authors recommend a more coordinated approach to marine protected area management to create networks that effectively safeguard mobile species, like turtles, sharks, rays and other fish.
- The review warns that despite the successes of local initiatives, climate change remains the biggest threat to coral reefs in Bali and around the world.

Scaling Palauan tradition to regional fisheries: Q&A with Noah Idechong
- After training as a traditional hunter and fisherman in his village in Palau as a boy, Noah Idechong has since become a “bit of a legend” in Pacific marine conservation.
- He has been a government official, an activist, a politician, a legislator, and the founder of a domestic conservation NGO. Currently, he’s the executive director for Micronesia and Polynesia at the international conservation NGO The Nature Conservancy.
- In all of these roles, Idechong has focused on one main thing: championing the traditional systems the communities of Palau employ to protect and conserve the archipelago’s rich marine biodiversity and domestic fisheries.
- Today, he’s applying that ethos at a regional scale as he helps build more sustainable regional tuna fisheries that benefit the Pacific island nations in whose waters the tuna swim, rather than foreign fishing enterprises.

Boats behaving badly: New report analyzes China’s own fisheries data
- China’s distant-water fishing fleet, which operates on the high seas and in other countries’ waters, is far bigger and catches far more seafood than those of other nations.
- As a result, and also because of numerous high-profile cases of illegal behavior, the Chinese fleet receives intense scrutiny from international NGOs and the media.
- A new report, based mainly on data China released since enacting transparency measures in 2017 as well as a database of global fisheries violations and crew interviews, identified hundreds of fisheries offenses committed by the fleet between 2015 and 2019, and details a range of human rights abuses and environmentally destructive fishing practices.
- However, some experts say that although the Chinese fleet is by far the biggest, vessel for vessel its behavior isn’t all that different from other fleets, and that all share responsibility to reform.

Oceans conference comes up with $16b in pledges to safeguard marine health
- The seventh Our Ocean Conference took place in the Pacific island nation of Palau on April 13 and 14.
- Representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society groups and philanthropic organizations made 410 commitments worth more than $16 billion toward improving the health, productivity and protection of the world’s oceans.
- Discussions focused around the importance of ocean-based climate solutions and the linkage between healthy oceans and healthy communities.
- The setting in a small island developing state lent the event a unique perspective, underscoring the crucial role and leadership of Indigenous peoples and local communities in tacking the climate change and ocean crises.

Sharing a marine reserve with fishers: Q&A with Belize Fisheries’ Adriel Castañeda
- In Belize, the coral atoll Glover’s Reef is an important conservation site, home to hundreds of species of marine life — and traditionally been a popular spot for local fishermen.
- The marine protected area has a multi-use zone that allows fishermen to work in the area while protecting biodiversity.
- Nevertheless, some shark populations have declined in recent years despite careful management by the Belize fisheries department and NGOs.
- Adriel Castañeda, an officer with the Belize Fisheries Department and coordinator for the ecosystem-based management unit, spoke with Mongabay about the challenges of preserving the reef while upholding the customs of local communities.

NGOs block gillnet fishing across 100,000 sq km of Great Barrier Reef
- In an effort to protect dugongs and other threatened species, WWF-Australia bought a commercial gillnet fishing license for a swath of ocean in the northern Great Barrier Reef, to establish a de-facto marine sanctuary spanning more than 100,000 km2 (38,600 mi2).
- Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and other marine animals are easily caught in gillnets, and experts say many fatalities go unreported.
- The newly protected region is an important feeding ground for dugongs, supporting a local population of about 7,000, experts say.
- WWF-Australia says it hopes the Australian and Queensland state governments will establish more permanent protections for dugongs on the Great Barrier Reef, and that Traditional Owners can use the area for sustainable fishing and tourism.

Oil spill contaminates wildlife, beaches and protected areas in Peru
- On Jan. 15, a refinery owned by Spanish oil company Repsol spilled nearly 12,000 barrels of oil into the sea off Lima, Peru, as it was pumping the oil from a tanker.
- Experts have questioned why the refinery of La Pampilla was operating that day, when there were unusually high waves caused by the Tonga volcano eruption and tsunami.
- Peru’s Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) has fined Repsol for similar spills on at least three prior occasions, and this time the company could be hit with more than $37 million in fines.
- The spill has spread beyond the Lima coast and out toward islands that are part of a network of protected nature reserves, posing serious threats to marine life and to artisanal fishermen.

The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching — once again — and over a larger area
- The Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing its sixth mass bleaching event, and the fourth event of this kind to happen in the past six years.
- Based on aerial surveys that were concluded this week, bleaching has affected all parts of the Great Barrier Reef, with the most severe bleaching occurring between Cooktown, Queensland, and the Whitsunday Islands.
- Sea surface temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef have been higher than normal, despite the region going through a La Niña climate pattern, which usually brings cooler, stormier weather.
- Climate change remains the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs around the world, experts say.

Fourth round of U.N. talks fail to finalize a treaty to manage the high seas
- U.N. member states met this month in New York to hash out a treaty governing the sustainable management of the high seas, resource-rich international waters that span about two-thirds of the ocean.
- Hopes were high that after 10 years of discussion and three previous negotiating sessions, delegates to the meeting would finalize a legally binding treaty.
- Talks ended March 18 with no deal, amid a failure to reach consensus on several key points, including how to establish marine protected areas on the high seas.
- A movement to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 depends on the swift completion of a high seas treaty, and observers say a deal remains within reach by the end of the year.

‘Small-scale fishers have a Ph.D. in the ocean’: Q&A with Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy
- Traditional fishers along Madagascar’s coastline are grappling with falling fish stocks, cyclones, and competition from industrial trawlers, mostly owned by foreigners.
- In an attempt to better manage the country’s marine wealth and secure local fishers’ rights, communities banded together to form Mihari, a network of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) that leans heavily on traditional ocean knowledge.
- As Mihari’s national coordinator for six years Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy supported a campaign to reserve fishing areas for small scale fishers and helped create a space for women to fully participate in decision-making.
- She spoke with Mongabay recently about the challenges facing fishing communities, their depth of marine knowledge, and the prospects for securing their fishing rights.

Can we save coral reefs? | Problem Solved
- Since the 1950s the world has lost half of its coral reef ecosystems.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that with 1.5°C (2.7°F) of warming above pre-industrial levels we could lose up to 90% of the world’s coral reefs.
- This amount of warming could happen in as little as six years.
- Experts say there’s still time to save coral reefs, but it’ll require swiftly addressing the three largest impacts to reefs: land-based pollution, overfishing and, most importantly, climate change.

To save the oceans, we need MPAs that emphasize actual protection of marine ecosystems (commentary)
- Saving the ocean is possible but it requires getting serious about stopping its destruction, not everywhere, but especially in designated places called marine protected areas, a new op-ed argues.
- But for MPAs to work, “protected” has to mean what it says. There should be no halfway measures, no empty promises, no conservation that happens only on paper.
- There have been several opportunities in recent months to take action on such measures, including at the current UN Environment Assembly, which ends on March 2.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Four new MPAs in Maluku boost Indonesia’s bid to protect its seas
- Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries designated four new marine protected areas in the country’s east in January.
- The new conservation areas are in the waters surrounding the islands of Tanimbar, Damer, Mdona Hiera, Lakor, Moa, Letti and the Romang in Maluku province.
- The newly designated MPAs are home to threatened and protected species, including the green turtle, the scalloped hammerhead shark, and an abundance of coral reefs and other marine ecosystems.
- The four new MPAs bring the Indonesian government two-thirds of the way toward its goal of ensuring “effective management” of 10% of national waters by 2030.

Afro-Colombian community safeguards pristine oceans with new protected area
- The newly designated Isla Ají marine protected area covers over a total of 24,600 hectares (60,800 acres) of coastal, terrestrial and marine ecosystems on Colombia’s Pacific coast.
- The Naya River Delta, where the protected area is located, is home to a variety of diverse ecosystems, from tropical forests to beaches, mudflats to mangrove forests.
- The new marine protected area contributes to Colombia’s goal of conserving 30% of its surface by 2030, part of a larger global commitment made by around 70 countries to promote biodiversity through the creation of protected areas.
- Many of the communities near Isla Ají hope to transition to ecotourism to fulfill their conservation goals, but investment is still in its early stages.

Belize shows how fishers and researchers can collaborate to protect sharks
- A new study found that Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) experienced a decline between 2009 and 2019 at Glovers Reef Marine Reserve, a marine protected area off the coast of Belize.
- The researchers theorized that the decline had to do with legal shark fishing that had been permitted on the edges of the MPA since 2016.
- The researchers worked with government officials and the fishing community to implement no-take zones that extended 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) around Glover’s Reef Atoll, as well as around two other sites: Lighthouse Reef Atoll and Turneffe Atoll.
- While it’s too early to tell if the new restrictions are having a positive impact, experts say they’re hopeful that Caribbean reef sharks will bounce back.

Jordan scrambles to save rare Red Sea corals that can withstand climate change
- In Jordan, researchers, activists and fishers are hopeful that their coral reefs — and the life they support — can survive climate change.
- Corals in this northern part of the Red Sea have been shown to be far more resilient to warming ocean temperatures than corals elsewhere.
- Even though they cover only 0.2% of the ocean floor, coral reefs support about 25% of all marine life.

‘There’s not much hope’: Mediterranean corals collapse under relentless heat
- In 2003, a marine heat wave devastated coral reef communities in the Mediterranean Sea, including the reefs in the Scandola Marine Reserve, a protected region off the coast of Corsica.
- More than 15 years later, the coral reef communities in Scandola still have not recovered.
- Researchers determined that persistent marine heat waves, which are now happening every year in the Mediterranean, are preventing Scandola’s slow-growing coral reefs from recuperating.
- Human-induced climate change is the culprit; persistent rising temperatures in the ocean have normalized marine heat waves, not only in the Mediterranean, but in the global oceans.

Gulf of Thailand oil pipeline leak threatens reef-rich marine park
- An oil spill in the Gulf of Thailand that began in late January threatens to impact coral reefs, seagrass beds and local livelihoods in a nearby marine park.
- The spill, reported late on Jan. 25, originated from an underwater pipeline owned and operated by Thailand-based Star Petroleum Refining PLC, which said between 20,000 and 50,000 liters (5,300-13,200 gallons) of oil leaked into the ocean.
- Cleanup efforts are underway to deal with the crude oil slick at sea and along beaches on the mainland where parts of the slick have washed up.
- More than 200 oil spills have occurred in Thailand’s waters over the last century; environmental groups have called on Thailand’s government to transition the country away from fossil fuels, and on the oil and gas industry to better implement preventative measures to avoid future disasters.

Ecuador to announce creation of Hermandad Marine Reserve off Galapagos (commentary)
- “Ecuador is proud to announce the creation of the Hermandad Marine Reserve in the coming days,” the country’s president announces in a statement shared with Mongabay.
- Safeguarding the critical migration routes of vital species like whale sharks and sea turtles will result in healthier and more abundant populations, he says.
- Covering an additional 60,000 square kilometers near the Galapagos, in addition to the existing 138,000 square kilometers, the new reserve will ensure a safe pathway for creatures traveling to and from Costa Rica’s Cocos Island.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

‘Great Blue Wall’ aims to ward off looming threats to western Indian Ocean
- Ten nations in the western Indian Ocean committed this November to create a network of marine conservation areas to hasten progress toward the goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
- Less than 10% of the marine expanse in this region currently enjoys protection, and a recent assessment highlighted the price of failure: all the coral reefs are at high risk of collapse in the next 50 years.
- The focus of these efforts won’t just be coral reefs, but also mangroves and seagrass meadows, a lesser-known underwater ecosystem critical for carbon sequestration and oceanic biodiversity.
- Even as overfishing and warming take a toll on marine health, threats from oil and gas extraction are intensifying in this corner of the Indian Ocean.

2021’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2021.
- Hopeful developments this year included big investments pledged for ocean conservation, baby steps toward the reduction of marine plastic pollution, and the description of two new whale species, Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) and Ramari’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon eueu).
- At the same time, rising ocean temperatures, a byproduct of climate change, had profound effects on marine species up and down the food chain, and action on key measures to maintain ocean resilience in the face of multiple threats hung in the balance.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Galápagos census looks at impacts on turtles during and after COVID lockdown
- The suspension of tourism activities around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic gave researchers the chance to answer an important question: What impact does tourism have on wildlife populations?
- In Ecuador’s famed Galápagos Islands, researchers have for more than a year now been carrying out a turtle census on Tortuga Bay, a beach popular with tourists, but which was off-limits during lockdown.
- With tourists now returning, the researchers have been able to record tangible changes in the number and behavior of the turtles on the beach, although a full analysis is only expected to begin in December.

Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
- Members of the multilateral body responsible for Antarctic marine conservation failed to agree on new measures to protect the Southern Ocean from overfishing.
- China and Russia blocked all proposals to establish new marine protected areas.
- This story was originally published by the Environmental Reporting Collective.

From the ocean floor, a startup livestreams the rise of coral cities
- A Portuguese company that was forged in Southeast Asia is building an underwater city for coral in Sultan Iskandar Marine Park, Malaysia, made from food waste such as rice husks.
- It is also building a pilot project ultimately leading to a 72 km2 (28 mi2) engineered reef off Comporta, Portugal, which will cost approximately $226-556 million.
- Each stackable underwater city contains a Bluboxx, a console fitted with sensors to measure the salinity, temperature and acidity of the sea, with the data then livestreamed to scientists and shared with governments.
- If no action is taken to protect coral reefs, it is believed that 90% will be extinct by 2050, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Green light for mining project raises red flags for Chile penguin reserve
- A mining and port project that could threaten penguins and other marine species has been approved near Chile’s Humboldt Archipelago.
- The approval has sparked widespread criticism from the scientific community, civil society, government officials and politicians, who say it ignores conservation science and prioritizes business interests.
- Politicians and conservationists from civil society organizations say they will go to court to try to stop the project.

New protections announced for Galápagos Islands and beyond at COP26
- Ecuador’s president announced on Nov. 1 an expansion of the existing Galápagos Islands marine reserve to encompass an additional 60,000 square kilometers (23,200 square miles).
- The majority of the addition would be established across the Cocos Ridge, which is an important migration route for species like hammerhead sharks and leatherback turtles.
- The following day, the presidents of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica also announced that the four countries intended to create a large marine corridor between their four countries by extending and joining their current marine protected areas.
- Experts say that the new Galápagos marine reserve, in conjunction with the larger corridor, would help protect a range of migratory species.

Local communities saved Cabo Pulmo with a national park. Then came the tourists.
- A well-known conservation success story in Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, involves a local community that lobbied the government to establish a marine park and no-take zone that would save its coral reefs.
- Decades later, the area is now an extremely popular vacation destination, with more tourists entering the area than the local community can handle.
- Residents feel overwhelmed by the growth and popularity of the area. They are calling for new regulations to be put in place.

Marine experts flag new Peru marine reserve that allows industrial fishing
- Experts say the establishment of a new marine protected area off Peru that allows large-scale fishing and the capture of deep-sea cod will damage the biodiversity inside the reserve.
- Nazca Ridge National Reserve is the first fully marine protected area in Peru, covering 62,392 square kilometers (24,089 square miles) of the ocean.
- Its establishment in June increased the proportion of the country’s territorial waters under some sort of protection from less than 1% to nearly 8%.

New research hopes to shine a light on wedgefish, the ‘pangolin of the ocean’
- Wedgefish, a type of ray, are some of the least-known and most endangered fish in the ocean.
- A new research project in Mozambique is employing two types of tags, acoustic and satellite, to better understand two of these critically endangered species.
- Researchers aim to uncover the species’ range and habitat requirements to preserve them from extinction.
- Wedgefish are heavily targeted by the shark-fin trade, and their populations have declined precipitously throughout much of their range.

Scientists, communities battle against Philippine land reclamation project
- A land reclamation project in the central Philippines spanning 174 hectares (430 acres) faces strong opposition from various organizations and civil society groups.
- The $456 million “smart city” project is a joint venture between Dumaguete City and E.M. Cuerpo, a local construction firm.
- While the project promises economic benefits, critics say these will be negated by its environmental impact, which includes covering 85% of Dumaguete City’s coastline and burying four marine protected areas.
- Critics also say the project has ignored the public consultation process, a requirement for a venture of this scale in the Philippines.

What can seashells tell us about the health of the oceans?
- On today's episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss what seashells can tell us about the state of the world's oceans, and we hear about the challenges facing the Philippines' marine protected area system.
- Environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett joins us to discuss her newly released book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans. She tells us about the many ways humans have prized seashells for years, using them as money, jewelry, and art, and how seashells can help us examine the challenges marine environments are facing today.
- We're also joined by Mongabay staff writer Leilani Chavez, who tells us about the incredible marine biodiversity found in Philippines waters and why there's a movement amongst scientists and conservationists to expand marine conservation efforts beyond the Philippines' extensive coral reef systems.

Protecting Colombia’s shark paradise: Q&A with Sandra Bessudo
- 500 kilometers off the Pacific coast of Colombia lies Malpelo Island, a barren rock that marks the center of the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary World Heritage Site and is renowned for its biodiversity, especially its shark population.
- It was Malpelo’s world-class diving that first brought French-Colombian marine naturalist Sandra Bessudo to the island. Moved by its biodiversity as well as the threats from overfishing and damaging tourism practices, Bessudo went on to become Malpelo’s best-known advocate, founding the Malpelo Foundation and successfully pushing for the island’s listing as a World Heritage Site in 2006.
- Bessudo has also produced dozens of publications and documentaries, served as Colombia’s environment minister and a presidential advisor, and influenced conservation policy through her marine research.
- Bessudo spoke about her marine conservation efforts, the challenges facing oceans, and other topics during a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.

‘Mismanaged to death’: Mexico opens up sole vaquita habitat to fishing
- The Mexican government has eradicated a “no tolerance” zone in the Upper Gulf of California meant to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.
- The former refuge will now be open for fishing and there will be minimal monitoring and enforcement of illegal activity, experts say.
- Conservationists say this move will certainly lead to the extinction of the vaquita, whose numbers have recently dwindled down to about nine.

With growing pressures, can the Philippines sustain its marine reserves?
- The Philippines pioneered a community-based approach to marine protected area management in 1974, which balanced conservation and community livelihood. This became the blueprint of the more than 1,500 marine reserves in the country today.
- While the government depends on its MPA system in protecting its seascapes and meeting its international commitments, research suggest only a third of the country’s MPAs are well-managed and only protect around 1% of the country’s coral reefs.
- With management and resource challenges, these MPAs are threatened by overfishing and illegal fishing practices as well as the worsening impacts of climate change.
- Experts say strengthening the country’s larger MPA systems, synchronizing conservation with fisheries management policies, adapting newer models, and creating a network of MPAs may help the country buffer the impacts of climate change on its rich marine resources.

Decades of research back the value of marine reserves to Kenya’s fisheries
- A 24-year study conducted by Tim McClanahan looked at two different interventions to address unsustainable fishing practices in artisanal fisheries along Kenya’s coast: gear restrictions, and a marine reserve that prohibited all fishing activities.
- It found both methods showed an increase of catch per unit effort (CPUE), which indirectly measures the number of target species that were caught.
- Landing sites adjacent to the marine reserve maintained steady total yields, while the gear-restricted sites declined over the study period.
- While marine reserves were shown to generate more long-term benefits, outside experts say they are not always an ideal solution and that other approaches may be more appropriate in managing fisheries.

Scientists call for solving climate and biodiversity crises together
- A new report from United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) highlights the importance of confronting climate change and biodiversity loss together.
- Global climate change and the unprecedented loss of species currently underway result from a similar suite of human-driven causes, the report’s authors write.
- As a result, solutions that take both issues into account have the best chance of success, they conclude.

Conservation solutions in paradise: Jamaica’s Oracabessa Bay Fishing Sanctuary
- A group of local fishermen and tourism industry stakeholders established a fishing sanctuary several years ago in Oracabessa Bay in response to a decline in vital Jamaican coastal life like coral and herbivorous fish.
- Surveys indicate an increase in reef health due to the efforts despite challenges, and the conservation model is set to be replicated at multiple other sites in Jamaica.

Protected areas now cover nearly 17% of Earth’s surface: U.N. report
- A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature reveals that countries are closing in on the target set in 2010 of protecting or conserving 17% of the Earth’s surface.
- Since 2010, the area of the marine environment that’s under protection has more than tripled, although global coverage is less than 8%, falling short of the 10% goal set in Aichi Target 11.
- While there has been some success, international leaders agree there should be more focus on quality as well as quantity in designating protected and conservation areas.
- As the U.N. Biodiversity Conference scheduled for October 2021 in Kunming, China, approaches, the report calls for a stronger emphasis on the contributions of Indigenous and local communities, while also ensuring that the world’s poorest don’t shoulder an outsize burden from these efforts.

Chile’s marine protected areas aren’t safe from its salmon farms
- Mongabay has mapped out the salmon-farming concessions off Chile’s coast and how they overlap with its patchwork of marine protected areas.
- In Chile’s four southernmost regions, five protected areas have salmon-farming concessions within them, with one having more than 300. This threatens the unique ecosystems of Patagonia.
- The 416 concessions that lie inside marine protected areas belong to 32 companies, the top three of which control more than a third of the concessions.
- In 2012, the Comau Fjord witnessed a massive coral die-off that researchers linked to a combination of natural volcanic activity and water oxygen depletion caused by salmon farming.

Study confirms sightings of endangered blue whale in Philippine waters
- For years, a group of scientists have been tracking a mysterious whale that they initially labeled as belonging to another blue whale subspecies.
- Their decade-long efforts resulted in a new study that confirms the species as an endangered pygmy blue whale — an animal last recorded in Philippine waters in the 19th century.
- Researchers call the pygmy blue whale “Bughaw,” a Filipino word for the color blue.
- They say Bughaw’s presence could help establish Philippine waters as part of the extended migration path of the Indo-Australian population of pygmy blue whales.

New Australian marine parks protect area twice Great Barrier Reef’s size
- The Australian government has moved to create two new marine protected areas that cover an expanse of ocean twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
- The two parks will be established around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean to the northwest of continental Australia.
- The new parks, which cover to 740,000 square kilometers (286,000 square miles) of ocean, raise the protected share of Australia’s oceans from 37% to 45%.
- The decision was immediately welcomed by conservation groups.

“How do we manage fisheries in the midst of climate change?” Q&A with EDF’s Eric Schwaab
- The world’s oceans are the ultimate global commons, and as such, profits have been realized privately, but costs are borne by the public, with often the most marginalized and disadvantaged facing the greatest burdens.
- Eric Schwaab, who current serves as the Senior Vice President of Ecosystems and Oceans at Environmental Defense Fund, says there are solutions to the ocean challenges we’ve created.
- “What gives me hope is the combination of awareness, commitment and ingenuity coming from many different parts of the world,” Schwaab told Mongabay during a recent interview. “Despite all our environmental and geopolitical challenges, the oceans are providing solutions.”
- Schwaab spoke about how to increase the resilience of fisheries to climate change; U.S. oceans policy, including what the country has gotten right and wrong; and more in a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.

Countries can transform the climate crisis with ocean-based action (commentary)
- Protecting coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems like mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes is 10 times more effective at sequestering carbon per area than terrestrial forests, and is just one ocean-based solution that can help mitigate climate change.
- But lacking such action, an IPCC report estimated that climate-induced declines in ocean health will cost the global economy $428 billion by 2050 and $1.979 trillion by 2100.
- As world leaders meet at the upcoming Leaders Summit on Climate, Chile calls for countries to advocate for the adoption of new international objectives on biodiversity, such as protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Sharks on a knife’s edge as Maldives mulls lifting 10-year fishing ban
- Eleven years ago, the Maldives created a 90,000-square-kilometer (34,750-square-mile) sanctuary that banned shark fishing, but fisheries minister Zaha Waheed said recently that the government may be planning to lift the ban.
- Conservationists say reopening shark fisheries in the Maldives would have devastating effects on shark populations and adversely affect tourism, which brings millions of dollars into the country each year.
- There are unofficial reports the Maldivian government will not be lifting the shark fishing ban, possibly in response to the local and international outcry.
- But a local expert says there are still grounds for concern if long-line fisheries are allowed to operate in the shark sanctuary, or if a legislative loophole is introduced that would allow shark fishing to recommence in some capacity.

Ocean protection scheme can yield ‘triple benefits’ study says
- A new study suggests that carefully planned marine protected areas could yield triple benefits for the ocean, helping to maintain biodiversity, while also increasing fish yields and maximizing the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon in seafloor sediment.
- This study is one of the first to quantify the carbon footprint of ocean trawling, which it equates to the yearly emissions of the global aviation industry.
- The researchers suggest that the planning tools in this study could help inform discussions about how to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, a goal that is expected to be adopted by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity later this year.
- Other proposals for how to achieve 30% protection by 2030 have mostly focused on the high seas, but this plan takes all parts of the ocean into consideration.

Study calls for a marine reserve in a $500m fishing hotspot in Indonesia
- A new study proposes establishing a marine protected area in Indonesia’s Java Sea-Makassar Strait region, one of the top fishing grounds in the country.
- The study found that much of the commercially valuable snapper and grouper species caught in these shallow waters are juveniles, which compromises the sustainability of the species’ populations and of the $500 million fishery itself.
- Another expert says imposing an MPA in this key fishing area would be a bureaucratic challenge, and instead suggests introducing an annual close season, similar to the one for yellowfin tuna in Indonesia’s Banda Sea.
- The study authors have also called for a change in consumer behavior, noting that the desire for snappers that fit on a plate is what drives the fishing of juveniles.

Amid South China Sea dispute, Philippines’ Palawan is besieged by political split
- The Philippine province of Palawan is set to decide on a law that will divide the province into three: Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur.
- Palawan stands on the Philippines’ western border and is the country’s sentinel in the maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
- Anti-division groups have raised concerns that the split will weaken the implementation and management of environmental programs Palawan has been known for, and in the process, endanger the province’s already threatened ecology.
- Palawan’s marine ecosystems have been under constant threat from illegal fishing and poaching by foreign vessels encroaching on its waters.

Rewilding public lands in Patagonia and beyond: Q&A with Kris Tompkins
- In the early 1990s, Kris and Doug Tompkins began buying up vast amounts of land in Chile and Argentina and setting it aside for conservation.
- Since the early 2000s, their non-profit Tompkins Conservation has donated over 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) of wilderness in Chile and Argentina, which spurred the permanent protection of nearly 6 million hectares (15 million acres) and the establishment of 13 new national parks.
- The Tompkins had performed “a kind of capitalist jujitsu move” as Kris Tompkins put it in her 2020 TED talk: “We deployed private wealth from our business lives and deployed it to protect nature from being devoured by the hand of the global economy.”
- Kris Tompkins spoke about her organization’s conservation work, rewilding, and the costs of our current industrial model during a February 2021 conversation with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.

Illegal fishing: The great threat to Latin America’s marine sanctuaries
- An investigative collaboration by Mongabay Latam, Ciper in Chile, Cuestión Pública in Colombia, and El Universo in Ecuador looked at illegal fishing and the threats it poses to Latin America’s marine sanctuaries.
- The investigation revealed suspected illegal fishing activities in marine protected areas in those three Latin American countries as well as Mexico.
- Many Latin American marine protected areas do not have enough surveillance or budget to prevent these crimes, and in some cases lack even a management plan defining a monitoring strategy.
- It is in this context that foreign fleets, particularly from China, including boats with a history of illegal fishing, also cross marine sanctuaries during their journeys.

How technology can help us achieve at least 30% ocean protection (commentary)
- A growing number of countries are pledging to protect and conserve at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.
- Securing such a vast area requires new cutting-edge technology to monitor illegal activities and movements of species. Luckily, this field has been developing fast with new inventions and tech collaborations.
- The goal can be achieved by combining data from a range of sources, connecting the data to existing systems that rangers use, and engaging the people, communities, and sectors that work closely with the sea.
- This article is a commentary and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Declaring key ocean habitats off-limits to human activities protects biodiversity and guards against climate change (commentary)
- Oceans around the world face a litany of threats, from climate change to overfishing to pollution and more.
- Marine protected areas (MPAs), when well-sited, well-managed and durable, provide ocean ecosystems with the capacity to restore damaged marine populations, protect endangered species and recover faster from climate-caused disasters.
- MPA policies need to be implemented more widely, writes Kelsey Lamp from Environment America’s ocean campaigns, starting by protecting 30% of our oceans with MPAs by 2030.
- This article is a commentary and the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Activists make the case that bigger is better to protect Galápagos reserve
- A group of scientists, conservationists and NGOs are campaigning to expand the current Galápagos Marine Reserve to protect an additional 445,953 square kilometers (172,183 square miles) in the exclusive economic zone of the Galápagos Islands.
- According to a scientific proposal, the marine reserve expansion would help protect threatened migratory species, deter unsustainable and illegal fishing practices, and even bolster the legal Ecuadoran fishing industries.
- While the proposal has garnered both national and international support, Ecuador’s fishing sector is largely opposed to the expansion of the reserve.

Seeking a sanctuary for Peru’s sea life: Q&A with Yuri Hooker
- More than 1,000 species of fish, 1,018 mollusks and crustaceans and 215 echinoderms are known to live in Peruvian waters, and many species remain to be discovered and cataloged.
- Yet despite its rich biodiversity, Peru has no marine protected areas.
- Nearly 10 years ago, a movement began to urge the government to declare one in the tropical north of the country, home to more than 70% of Peru’s fish and invertebrate species.
- Mongabay spoke to Yuri Hooker, a marine scientist who has been pushing for the creation of the Grau Tropical Marine National Reserve.

Sustainable financing is pivotal for marine conservation beyond 2030 pledges (commentary)
- In this commentary, Simon Cripps, the Executive Director for the Global Marine Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), argues that one of the biggest challenges in getting political will for protecting 30 percent of the oceans in MPAs by 2030 and maintaining it thereafter is financial.
- Government currently funds marine conservation costs in developed countries, but developing countries with fewer resources rely more on development aid, philanthropic foundations, and NGOs to fill the financial gaps.
- The author argues that conservationists “must look to solving the economic questions in innovative new ways.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)
- Marine scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, share their list of the top 10 ocean news stories from 2020.
- Hopeful developments this year included some long-overdue attention to Black and other underrepresented groups in marine science; new technologies to prevent deadly ship-whale collisions and track “dark” vessels at sea remotely; and surprising discoveries in the deep sea.
- At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more trash than ever being dumped in the sea, and stalled international negotiations aimed at protecting waters off Antarctica and in the high seas. 2020 also brought the first modern-day marine fish extinction.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Countries fall short of U.N. pledge to protect 10% of the ocean by 2020
- A decade ago, the international community pledged to protect 10% of the ocean by the end of 2020, under the auspices of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.
- Despite adding new marine protected areas quickly, the international community is falling well short of that goal: only about 7.5% of the oceans is now protected, according to a generous assessment.
- Even proponents of marine protected areas acknowledge they are not always as effective as they could be.
- Conservationists are now pressing for the adoption of a more ambitious new international goal: protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.

Layers of regulations to protect European seas ‘not working,’ audit finds
- A recent report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found that the European Union (EU) was not doing enough to protect and restore its oceans, despite having various policies in place to support conservation efforts.
- In particular, the ECA report found that only 1% of more than 3,000 marine protected areas (MPAs) in EU waters provided full protection to marine habitats, and that the MPAs generally failed to protect biodiversity.
- The report also found that sustainable fishing and environmental standard targets were not being met, some policies were out of date, and that EU funding was not being adequately utilized for conservation efforts.
- A recent report by the NGO Oceana on trawling activities in sensitive marine habitats in the Mediterranean provides further evidence that EU policies are not doing enough to protect its seas.

Could China become a partner in Galapagos marine conservation? Yolanda Kakabadse thinks so
- Yolanda Kakabadse has been an environmental leader since the late 1970s; first heading up small Ecuadorian NGOs before eventually rising to senior ranks at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She was Ecuador’s Minister of Environment from 1998 to 2000.
- In those roles, Kakabadse became used to making arguments that bring stakeholders with divergent views together around common interests. She’s currently trying to engage the Chinese government as a potential conservation partner in the Galapagos, where a Chinese fleet has been accused of unsustainable fishing practices.
- In a November 2020 interview with Mongabay, Kakabadse talked about her approaches to finding common ground, changes she’s observed in the conservation sector over the course of her career, and the opportunity to shift toward more equitable and sustainable economic models in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frustration as Antarctic conservation summit fails to declare marine sanctuaries
- A proposition to establish three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in East Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea was not approved at a recent meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which was held online in the last week of October.
- Conservation experts who attended the meeting reported there was limited time for negotiations, and that discussions focused more on fishing renewal authorizations and the issue of a Russian vessel suspected of illegally fishing, rather than the MPA designations and climate change action.
- On the other hand, many delegates signed a pledge of support for the formation of the three MPAs, and the Weddel Sea MPA and East Antarctica MPA gained new co-sponsors.

On a Philippine island, Indigenous women get their say on marine conservation
- The Philippines’ fisheries space has traditionally been dominated by men, but an Indigenous community in the western province of Palawan is allowing women to manage critical marine habitats.
- Fifteen women from the Indigenous Tagbanwa group in the municipality of Calawit have been given ownership of more than 130 hectares (320 acres) of ancestral waters where they harvest cachipay, a type of oyster.
- They receive training in resource management and conservation enterprise to help them take an even more proactive role in greater fisheries management, not just on a municipal level, but on a national scale.

‘No other choice’: Groups push to protect vast swaths of Antarctic seas
- A coalition of conservation groups is advocating for the establishment of three new marine protected areas (MPAs) in East Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea, which would encompass 4 million square kilometers (1.5 million square miles) of the Southern Ocean, or 1% of the global ocean.
- These proposals will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which is due to take place online because of the pandemic.
- Conservationists anticipate that China and Russia may not support these MPA proposals due to fishing interests in the region, although they are optimistic that the MPAs will eventually be approved.

We’re not protecting enough of the right areas to save biodiversity: Study
- In 2010, the member nations of the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 195 countries plus the EU, agreed that at least 17% of global land and 10% of the ocean needed to be protected by 2020.
- A new global review finds that many countries have fallen short of these targets, and the expansion of protected areas over the past 10 years has not successfully covered priority areas such as biodiversity hotspots and areas providing ecosystem services.
- The research team overlaid maps of protected areas, threatened species, productive fisheries, and carbon services, and found that 78% of known threatened species do not have adequate protection.
- Adequate protection of the world’s biodiversity will require conservation areas in the right places, the involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making and management, ecologically connectivity between protected areas, and much more financing.

In this Philippine community, women guard a marine protected area
- Women in the central Philippines have banded together to protect their marine sanctuaries from poachers and illegal fishers.
- Armed with only paddles and kayaks, these women willingly risk their lives to manage their marine protected area.
- Philippine waters are teeming with rich coral reefs and fish diversity and abundance, but protecting the seascape is challenging due to illegal fishing and climate change.

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