Featured image by Amos Nachoum.

SANTIAGO, APRIL 22nd, 2021

During the 2021 Virtual Leaders Climate Summit hosted on Earth Day, President Sebastian Piñera announced Chile will launch efforts to create a fully protected high seas marine protected area (MPA) in the Eastern Pacific as a priority measure to address the climate crisis.  The high seas MPA will be the first of its kind, protecting the Nazca Ridge, an area incredibly rich in biodiversity and abundant in endemic species.  The Nazca Ridge includes a series of connected submarine mountains offering refuge to both resident and migratory marine species, including threatened blue whales and leatherback sea turtles that return to these waters annually to breed and feed.  The area proposed for protections has been designated as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area (EBSA) in need of protection under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).…

By Dan Laffoley and Dr. Sylvia Earle

Later this year a major meeting will occur in China under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which will establish the ‘post-2020’ global biodiversity goals to better protect nature and the planet. This meeting is set against ever-increasing urgency and desperation to get a grip on the now deeply concerning and accelerating decline in nature, increases in major disruptions from climate change, and the impacts of this on the planet, nature, people, and the very viability of options for our future. In doing so the meeting in China remains one of THE opportunities of our generation to focus the attention of Governments on significantly scaling up ocean biodiversity protection. But why then does the CBD seem to be dropping an emphasis on the ocean?…

Header image by Jeff Hester, Photographers Without Borders
(JANGAMO BAY, MOZAMBIQUE) FEBRUARY 25th, 2021

The expansive coast along Mozambique’s Jangamo Bay offers a warm welcome to its visitors with serene blue waters, rolling sand dunes and idyllic palm trees. In Jangamo Bay, tourists can witness migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and connect with manta rays (Mobula alfredi and Manta birostris) beneath the surface.
 
 
Unfortunately, the area also experiences the prominent global issue of overfishing due to unsustainable practices, including shark killing. However, local nonprofit marine conservation organization Love The Oceans has been working to transform this fishing-fueled economy into an economy supported by ecotourism backed by a healthy marine ecosystem.
 
 
Love The Oceans has delivered sustainable fishing workshops and educational projects teaching sustainability, biology and marine resource management to more than 1,250 school children to spark a passion for marine life and the ocean within the next generation.…

Featured image by Danny Copeland.
Dive into the Aeolian Islands Hope Spot StoryMap!
AEOLIAN ARCHIPELAGO, ITALY (2020)

The Aeolian Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily is a string of seven volcanic islands named after Aeolus, the Greek demigod of the winds. Under Italy’s brilliant blue skies, the rocky islands are speckled among sparkling cerulean waters and hold a cornucopia of life. Each of the Aeolian islands is a UNESCO World Heritage site, designated in recognition of their unique volcanic activity – three islands are active volcanoes, and the remaining four islands still represent secondary volcanic phenomena.
 
 
Many local organizations are fueling projects to preserve the islands with the support of the Aeolian Islands Preservation Foundation (AIPF), who works in collaboration with other national and international groups.…