Commercial fishing will not be permitted in the reserve, but artisanal fishing will be allowed, as long as it is sustainable and does not endanger the whales. Large ships will be required to use designated ocean corridors to avoid disturbing the mammals.
In order to meet these goals, member nations must restore a minimum of 30% of the types of habitat covered by the Nature Restoration Law that are in “poor condition” to a “good condition” by the end of the decade, with an increase to 60% by the end of the following decade and 90% by 2050.
The Canadian federal government has signed its first major nature agreement with a province and First Nations to mutually support protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030. The agreement is meant to protect old growth forests in the B.C., support the recovery of at-risk species, and restore ecosystems.
A decade ago, New Caledonia established its entire 502,000-square-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as a marine protected area. However, only 2.4% of the park prohibited fishing, drilling and mining. Now, the New Caledonian government has designated an additional 7.6% of its EEZ to be highly protected.
The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) said it would secure a massive public and private investment to help conserve and restore coral ecosystems, which sustain a quarter of the world’s marine species and more than a billion people.
The signing of the treaty is a significant step in a global effort to protect the high seas, areas of the ocean beyond national borders. The high seas encompass two-thirds of the world’s oceans, but only about 1% currently have any kind of protected status.
Mexico introduced six new national parks and seven “flora and fauna protection areas” covering 44,276 acres to be overseen by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas.
The Clean and Healthy Oceans strategy from the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization aims to curb land-based pollution of our oceans through policy and regulatory innovation, infrastructure investments, and nature-based solutions.
Indonesia will reduce its overall tuna catch by 10% over the course of three years, citing unsustainable current levels of fishing.
The current estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 blue whales travel up from Mexico to Southern California waters every year, a large chunk of a global population that may be topping 25,000.
