One of the Largest Efforts to Protect the Planet's Ocean Underway

Blue Nature Alliance partners to protect 18 million square kilometers of ocean globally over five years

ARLINGTON, Va., April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A new ocean conservation initiative is underway to catalyze the protection and conservation of 18 million square kilometers of the ocean (7 million square miles) over the next five years—an area twice the size of the continental United States and larger than the continent of South America.

The effort, called the Blue Nature Alliance, is a collaboration led by Conservation International, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Global Environment Facility, Minderoo Foundation, and the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation. The Alliance aims to expand and enhance ocean protections with a focus on working alongside Indigenous peoples and local communities, scientists and academia, and other partners.

The Blue Nature Alliance is working with governments and other partners on large-scale efforts in Fiji's Lau Seascape, Antarctica's Southern Ocean, and Tristan da Cunha to collectively secure protections over 4.8 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles) of the ocean. The Alliance will soon engage in efforts in Canada, Palau, Seychelles, and the Western Indian Ocean. This will aim to strengthen and enhance the protection of nearly 2 million square kilometers (734,000 square miles) of the ocean. A pipeline of 18 additional Blue Nature Alliance engagements has been identified across North and South America, Europe, and the Asian Pacific region. The Blue Nature Alliance will announce the next round of locations in summer 2021.

"A Healthy ocean is key to our existence. It provides nutrition and employment for a majority of people around the world and half of the oxygen each of us breathes. Yet significantly less of our ocean is protected when compared to land," said 'Aulani Wilhelm, senior vice president of Oceans for Conservation International. "We must collaborate globally, in partnership with local governments and Indigenous peoples, to make the conservation of our ocean a priority. The time is now to take big practical action to move this work forward."

The world's ocean is under stress, it is facing threats from climate change, damaging fishing practices, and pollution. Science shows that protecting and conserving large areas of the ocean is necessary to support the air we breathe, regulate the climate, and maintain essential levels of biodiversity.