Protecting the ocean to protect humanity

The oceans are the origin and engine of all life on this planet — and they are in extreme peril.

Unprecedented sea-level rise and dangerously warming waters caused by climate change are among a list of grim impacts predicted by a recent United Nations report. By the end of the century, more of the world’s seas could be hot, acidic and lifeless — with catastrophic implications for marine life, Earth’s climate and the food security of billions of people.

Immediate and transformative action is needed to prevent the UN’s stark warning from becoming reality.

The facts

3 of 7

people

Three out of every seven people in the world depend on seafood as their main source of protein.

44%

of world's population

About 44 percent of the world's population lives within 150 kilometers (93 miles) of the ocean.

Up to 10x

more carbon

Up to 10 times more carbon is stored in coastal habitats than tropical forests per unit area.

Conservation International’s Center for Oceans guides the organization’s global marine work. Building on more than a decade of experience working with businesses, governments and communities, the Center for Oceans aims to protect the ocean at a global scale. The Center does this by leveraging the latest technological and social innovations while partnering with organizations, companies and governments around the world.

Planetary goals

Where humanity needs to be by 2030

The planetary need is to actively conserve 30 percent of the global ocean using area-based measures and ensure at least 75 percent of seafood globally is produced using socially responsible and environmentally sustainable methods by 2030.

What we are doing about it

40+

Coastal Community Fisheries

we are helping or have helped make sustainable in more than a dozen countries

22+

countries

where we are helping coastal communities to mitigate climate change or adapt to it through fisheries management and mangrove restoration

5M+

square kilometers

(13 million square miles) of ocean area protected across 20 countries

Conservation International is:

Generating and leveraging significant financial and human capital to support countries to scale up ocean conservation
Creating financial and policy incentives to protect and restore coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves
Disrupting damaging policies and practices in the seafood sector

Conservation International will work with partners to:

Improve the health and management of at least 20 fisheries and aquaculture areas by 2025

Protect and restore coastlines to achieve a net increase in global mangrove coverage by 20% by 2030

Advance the protection of 18 million square kilometers of ocean (5% of the global ocean) by 2025

Blue Nature Alliance

In 2020, Conservation International launched a bold new alliance to address some of the gravest threats to the ocean, from illegal fishing and overfishing to biodiversity loss. The partnership will enable the conservation of 18 million square kilometers (7 million square miles) of ecologically significant seas. The resulting protections will help to replenish fisheries, increase the resilience of marine species and ecosystems to climate change, and help coastal communities eat, thrive and adapt for generations to come.

Socially responsible seafood

Conservation International works at the nexus of human well-being and environmental sustainability. With environmental, human rights and industry leaders, we are transitioning the Monterey Framework for Socially Responsible Seafood into practice in critical industrial and small-scale fisheries supply chains — ensuring social safeguards to protect fishers' civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. We target environmental and human-rights hotspots where this crisis is concentrated, bringing research and technical capacity to strategic partners, globally.

In the field

Conservation International is hard at work

Iloilo Province, Philippines

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable nations in the world to the effects of climate breakdown. Tropical storms are happening more frequently and with greater intensity, leading to devastating storm surges along the country’s coasts. Conservation International is working to minimize the damage of future storms through “green-gray” projects that mix traditional engineering infrastructure (such as sea walls) with natural features (such as mangrove forests).

Atauro, Timor-Leste

The Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste is home to spectacular coral reefs and marine life, drawing dive tourists from around the world. Conservation International supported an initiative to combine 12 community-run marine protected areas — areas of the ocean where human activity is restricted, preventing overfishing and keeping the waters healthy — into one large network on the Timorese island of Atauro. The result: Communities building their livelihoods through conservation.

Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica

Conservation International is working in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, to protect and restore the diverse mangrove ecosystem of the Central American country’s most productive estuary. The Gulf’s mangrove forests provide vital habitat for fisheries and income for more than 6,000 fishers, and they have been the main source of food for nearby communities for more than a century. The mangrove forests are critical to maintaining water quality and controlling coastal erosion.

Ecuador

In 2019, Conservation International announced the Ecuador Azul fund, a US$ 6 million endowment fund supporting the conservation, management and long-term sustainability of Ecuador’s marine protected areas (MPAs). Ecuador Azul will initially fund five MPAs spanning nearly 2,000 square kilometers (about 772 square miles) of diverse marine and coastal ecosystems, containing an enormous range of wildlife, from the world’s largest cluster of manta rays to one of the most extensive mangrove areas along the Pacific coast.