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Despite the increasing number of species assessed for extinction risk by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (163,040 species as of 2024), only about 1 in 1,000 have been downlisted due to genuine population improvement. Although this rare conservation achievement has been widely celebrated in several recent cases, some other downlisting decisions have met with controversy. A primary role of the IUCN is to assess extinction risk.

The conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of blue carbon ecosystems are critical to addressing the intertwined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Actionable blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are considered mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and tidal salt marshes, all of which have exceptionally high carbon sequestration potential per unit area and offer a range of benefits for communities, biodiversity, and climate adaptation and resilience.

Neotrygon romeoi n. sp. (Dasyatidae), a new species of blue-spotted maskray from Fiji, previously confused with Neotrygon kuhlii (Müller and Henle 1841) or Neotrygon trigonoides (Castelnau 1873), is described based on nine specimens (310–397 mm disc width) from Fiji. Neotrygon romeoi n. sp. is a large maskray with a broadly angled snout, long claspers in adult males and a median row of thornlets extending from the nape to the tail base.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is home to one of the largest mangrove habitats (6% of the world’s mangrove area), which plays a crucial role in coastal protection, carbon sequestration and supporting biodiversity and livelihoods. With such an extensive mangrove cover, monitoring at scale is invaluable for sustainable mangrove management (conservation, protection and restoration).

Mangroves provide numerous ecosystem services and are increasingly recognized as a natural climate solution. As a result, multiple recent initiatives have set ambitious mangrove restoration targets. However, there has been little research estimating the costs of achieving such targets, either site by site or in aggregate. Here, we spatially model the costs of restoring mangroves globally based on reported implementation costs from 249 restoration projects in 25 countries.

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.

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.