This guidance aims to inform the planning, design, and implementation of new and expanded MPAs, OECMs, areas conserved by Indigenous peoples, and networks of protected and conserved areas at the community, national, and international levels. It focuses on why it is important to consider climate change in MPA1 planning, and how new areas can be established in ways that build climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation.
Comprehensive, global, and standardized data on ocean regulations are essential to assess protection levels. They are also key to successfully measuring progress towards 30 × 30 goals. ProtectedSeas’ Navigator is a repository of regulatory and spatial data for over 21,700 unique marine managed areas globally, with summaries of restricted fishing and marine activities extracted from official regulations.
International wildlife trade contributes to the loss of biodiversity and has driven several terrestrial and aquatic species to extinction. Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates, with overfishing considered the primary threat causing substantial global population declines. To prevent further depletions driven by the demand for and trade in shark and ray products. Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed 44 species on Appendices I and II between 2003–2019.
Disseminating research through academic publishing is essential for contributing to global knowledge, advancing critical fields and finding solutions to humanity’s challenges. However, for Pacific Islanders, navigating the path to publication can feel like crossing a vast ocean while weighed down by systemic barriers that make sharing knowledge, lived experiences and unique worldviews with the broader academic community difficult.
Ecosystems are characterized by interconnected structure and functions. A study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Casey Benkwitt at Lancaster University, United Kingdom and colleagues suggests that restoring seabird populations via eradication of rats may help coral reefs by restoring nutrient connectivity in disrupted food chains.
Forest and land cover across the Pacific are undergoing rapid transformation. In many areas, the removal of native vegetation and deforestation, whether through agriculture, urban development, or natural disasters such as cyclones, have made ecosystems increasingly vulnerable to invasion by non-native plant species. Among these, aggressive colonisers like Cordia alliodora and Spathodea campanulata (African Tulip) are threatening biodiversity, ecosystem health, food security and local economies.
Marine spatial planning (MSP), initially developed to address the needs of the global North, is gaining significant traction in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and is hailed as a collaborative governance instrument for managing and optimizing the allocation of ocean space. Despite its growing adoption, there has been limited attention given to what is needed for MSP to be effective and collaborative in SIDS, which is struggling with issues of fragmented ocean governance, insufficient funding, data limitations, and ad hoc stakeholder engagement.
Natural and mixed World Heritage (WH) has generally not been a success in the Oceania region, due to limited support at all levels, unrealistic expectations about what WH can and cannot deliver, and a lack of resources to support all aspects of the WH process, particularly WH site management. This report assesses the implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in Oceania in relation to natural and mixed WH sites. It outlines recommendations which will, if applied, contribute to the more effective implementation of natural WH in the Pacific region.
The sea turtle conservation community has made remarkable strides in globalscale priority setting in recent decades thanks to the collective efforts of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), universities, and local communities.
Whales and dolphins rely on critical ocean habitats – areas where they feed, mate, give birth, nurse young, socialize, and migrate – for their survival. These areas are connected by migratory pathways known as blue corridors, essential to their life cycle. Safe passage along these corridors is crucial for maintaining healthy populations and ensuring whales can thrive across entire ocean basins.
