By 2020 the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Targets call for 10 percent of the world’s ocean to be protected. As the date nears, we are seeing real progress, like the creation of a vast new protected area around Chile’s Rapa Nui (Easter Island) that is as large as...
During my six years with UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine Programme, I have had the privilege of visiting some of the world’s most beloved ocean places, including Cabo Pulmo, Lagoons of New Caledonia, Belize Barrier Reef, Coiba National Park, Tubbataha Reefs, and the Great Barrier Reef. Field visits are integral to our work, as we are...
For most of its history, the Arctic Ocean has been locked beneath a layer of sea ice. Even in high summer, much of the surface remains frozen. While inhospitable for most people except the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, these extreme conditions nurture an astonishing array of wildlife, thanks in part to the massive phytoplankton...
Last year was one of extremes for the world’s ocean. We celebrated the protection of vast swaths of ocean, along with some important advances in marine protected area management. But we also watched climate change and El Niño drain the life and color out of many of the planet’s most beautiful and beloved coral reefs....
Last August, the UNESCO’s Marine World Heritage Managers Conference was held on board Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Endeavour, and we were honored to be joined by CEO and Ocean Elder Sven Lindblad. Over the course of the week, Lindblad met with the managers responsible for the day-to-day protection of our common ocean heritage of humanity,...
It’s a scary world these days for fish. Just ask Brian Sullivan from Google Ocean & Earth Outreach, whose Global Fishing Watch enables us to watch the activity of tens of thousands of boats around the world that are using ever more sophisticated technology, and venturing further and further from shore, to satisfy our insatiable...
The report by UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which explores the different ways the World Heritage Convention may one day apply to the wonders of the open ocean, which covers more than half the planet, was presented to the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii a few hours ago. Sunken coral islands, floating rainforests, giant undersea...
On Board the National Geographic Endeavour — Climate change is a global problem, but it wears many faces, causing flooding in some areas and drought in others, record high temperatures one year, and cold the next. In the ocean, we are already seeing coral bleaching, increased acidity, rising seas, and changes to the food web....
On board the National Geographic Endeavour — As I reported Saturday, the managers of the world’s most beloved ocean places are meeting in the Galapagos this week to chart a path forward for Marine World Heritage. Each time we bring this global network together, I am filled with hope. National Geographic readers are well aware...
Managers of the world’s flagship marine protected areas are meeting in the Galápagos Islands this week to chart a sustainable ocean future National Geographic Endeavor — Today in the Galápagos, UNESCO is bringing together the guardians of our planet’s most unique and beloved ocean places. Our goal: to chart a sustainable future for the 49 marine World Heritage...
Sunken coral islands, floating rainforests, giant undersea volcanoes or even spires of rock resembling sunken cities: none of these sites can be inscribed on the World Heritage List because they are found in the High Seas, the parts of Earth’s ocean that are outside of any national jurisdiction. A report launched this week by UNESCO’s World...