In order to save the ocean, it's clear that large-scale action is needed, now. During the past four years, CI has helped to develop a new approach to improve ocean governance at scale.
The seascapes approach aims to establish good governance and recovering ocean health at a large scale (hundreds of thousands or millions of square kilometers) through collaboration among governments of bordering nations, stakeholder groups and partner organizations such as CI.
This model has already been tested and is succeeding in three established seascapes in the Pacific Ocean: the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape (with collaboration between Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador); the Papuan Bird's Head Seascape (Indonesia); and the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape (Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia).
The Goals:
- Establish a replicable global model for good governance and recovering ocean health at scale
- Improve ocean governance and health in seven seascapes
Why It's Needed
Establishing a successful system for ocean governance is a difficult challenge, made especially complicated by the fact that in the past many countries have seen the ocean as a sort of global commons, providing little incentive to conserve for the future.
Yet there is no question that international cooperation is needed in order to truly make a difference in the health of our marine ecosystems. Seascapes provide a model for establishing good governance and improving ocean health at a global scale.
Seascapes and Human Well-Being
Not only do seascapes provide habitat for a rich abundance and diversity of marine life, but they also provide homes, food sources, and incomes for millions of people. Improving ocean health and prosperity at the seascape level means recovering threatened species and ecosystems, with consequent benefits to the people who depend on marine ecosystems for their livelihoods and other ecosystem services. Collectively, the portfolio of seascapes will create a global movement toward comprehensive ocean governance and management that will ensure a prosperous ocean.
What It Will Do
Successful seascapes will benefit nature and people and will inspire action by decisionmakers and stakeholders seeking to replicate seascape successes in their own countries.
In each seascape, CI is building coalitions with governments, corporations and civil society organizations to attain nine essential elements:
- Enabling legal framework
- Ecosystem-based management including MPAs
- Adequate capacity and institutions
- Private sector engagement
- Social and political support
- Critical habitats and ecosystem maintenance and recovery
- Threatened species recovery
- Human well-being benefits
- Sustainable financing and market mechanisms
The Strategy
CI will continue the task of establishing successful seascapes and promoting others to do the same until ocean health is restored globally. The following actions will transition the seascapes portfolio into effective global ocean governance.
- The seascapes model will be perfected through strategic investments in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, Papuan Bird's Head and Sulu-Sulawesi Seascapes to fill remaining gaps in the essential elements.
- CI will expand our portfolio to seven seascapes by pursuing new seascapes in Brazil, the Central Pacific, Hawai'i (USA) and the Western Indian Ocean.
- Global geographic analyses will identify the regions where additional seascapes can contribute most to conservation and human well-being.
- Informed by lessons learned from the seascapes portfolio, a CI team will promote a 'franchise' approach to seascapes to encourage governments and multilateral agencies to create and support additional seascapes without active CI involvement.