Revive Our Ocean: New Initiative Targets Marine Protection for Global Ocean Health

Revive Our Ocean, an initiative by Dynamic Planet and National Geographic's Pristine Seas, aims to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. It focuses on creating Marine Protected Areas in multiple countries to combat overfishing and enhance local economies. Global treaty ratification is essential to meet protection goals.

A groundbreaking initiative, Revive Our Ocean, was unveiled this Thursday, targeting the conservation of 30% of the world's oceans by the decade's end. Spearheaded by Dynamic Planet and backed by the National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas program, this movement aims to bolster local economies while curbing overfishing.

The project initially focuses on Britain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia, addressing the urgent need for marine protected areas in coastal waters. Enric Sala, Executive Director of National Geographic Pristine Seas, emphasized, 'The worst enemy of fishing is overfishing.' These zones offer potential economic boons, as studies suggest they enhance fishery yields and tourism.

Despite this optimistic outlook, the initiative faces the challenge of establishing over 190,000 protected zones to achieve the '30 by 30' target. Global discussions are ongoing, with the recent New York meeting highlighting the need for 60 ratifications of a 2023 treaty to protect ocean biodiversity. Despite the U.S. absence from these talks, momentum builds as 21 countries ratify the treaty, looking ahead to the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2025.

(With inputs from agencies.)