On July 25, 2020, a Japanese cargo ship struck a reef on the southeast coast of Mauritius, leaking tons of oil into coral reefs, pristine turquoise water lagoons and unique ecosystems of the island nation. The grounded ship split up, releasing more oil in the sea that is home to …
While optimism can be in short supply when it comes to wildlife conservation, the spotting of three vaquita calves in October 2019 in the Upper Gulf of California in Mexico was a particularly exciting moment. A glimmer of hope in the struggle to save the world’s smallest marine mammal, that …
With eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean ever year, innovation is critical to find new approaches to waste management, especially as the world looks to build back better after COVID-19. A group of students in Kenya took on this challenge and created “Plastiki Rafiki” (Swahili for ‘Friendly Plastic’) …
Seagrass meadows can be a powerful nature-based climate solution and help sustain communities hard-hit by stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, but these important ecosystems continue to decline. The importance of seagrasses is highlighted in a new report, Out of the Blue: The Value of Seagrasses to the Environment and …
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the multitude of living things that make up life on Earth. It encompasses the 8 million or so species on the planet—from plants and animals to fungi and bacteria—and the ecosystems that house them such as oceans, forests, mountain environments and coral reefs. But, nature …
On almost any given day, at four-thirty in the morning, while most people are still sleeping, Europe’s biggest fishing port in Vigo, Spain is in full swing. In normal times of operation, shouts ring out from the multitude of workers offloading containers of fish from ships docked at the landing …
A five-year, $50-million Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded program rolled out by FAO and partners has made remarkable progress in protecting international waters’ biodiversity by rendering fishing in these waters less harmful to several marine species, including sea turtles and tuna. The Common Oceans ABNJ Program focused on areas beyond national …
