The 21st issue of SWOT Report features maps and a special article on sea turtles and traditions in the Pacific Islands written by experts in the region. Other articles include updated statuses of green turtle populations, Costa Rica’s newest arribada beach, and more.
Biodiversity is declining in many parts of the world. Biological diversity measurement and monitoring are fundamental to the assessment of the causes and consequences of environmental changes, identification of key areas for the protection of biodiversity or ecosystem services, determining the effectiveness of actions, and the creation of decision-support tools critical to maintaining a sustainable planet. Biodiversity measurement is rapidly changing due to advances in citizen science, image recognition, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA, genomics, remote sensing, and AI.
The assessment aligns with the Pacific Coral Reef Action Plan 2021–2030, supporting key action areas such as capacity building, habitat conservation, and research utilisation. Rather than imposing a uniform regional model, the recommendations emphasise tailored approaches that reflect national and sub regional priorities and governance structures, particularly given responsibilities for reef monitoring and management can vary from community-led to government-driven systems.
On paper, the sea is increasingly protected. Governments have designated vast marine protected areas (MPAs) and pledged to conserve 30% of the ocean by 2030. Maps shaded in reassuring blues now circulate widely. Yet the reality offshore often looks much the same as before. Industrial vessels still trawl through restricted waters, longliners set gear near vulnerable habitats, and sanctions for violations are sporadic. The problem is not a shortage of rules. It is the unevenness of enforcement.
Drawing on the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's Target 3 and the Ramsar Convention, this briefing note examines the synergies between Ramsar Site designations and OECM recognition, and what these mean for freshwater and coastal ecosystems.
With the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement, attention has rapidly shifted from negotiation to the practical realities of implementation. This policy brief focuses on what is needed now to operationalize Part IV on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) in the immediate term, as Parties prepare for the first Conference of the Parties (COP1).
Noncompliance regularly undermines the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide. The reasons for and drivers of noncompliance depend on the context (e.g., insufficient funding, capacity, neocolonialism, historical conflict), but the prevalent solution offered to curtail noncompliance tends to be more or better enforcement. We posit that this response is well intentioned but incomplete.
Since its initial articulation in the early 1970s, the sphere of legislative and judicial practices regarding the right to a healthy environment (R2HE) has evolved substantially. This report identifies and examines trends and developments in the interpretation of the R2HE over a decade (2015-2025) through an analysis of the advancement of the right in thirty jurisdictions, including international and regional human rights bodies. Call Number: [EL]ISBN/ISSN: 9789280742312Physical Description: 83 p.
In public finance, some costs are politely kept off the books. The ocean has long been one of them. Governments often speak of “blue growth” and “sustainable use,” yet many policies still treat marine ecosystems as a kind of free input: available, resilient, and cheap to replace. The result is ecological decline. It is also a fiscal problem. States end up assuming risks they would not tolerate on land.
