Posts by Jessica Coulter
Meet the 2021 Blue Park Award nominees, and help us evaluate them!
Blue Park Awards are given to outstanding marine protected areas (MPAs) that are helping to safeguard life in the sea. Nominees for the award go through a rigorous assessment using Blue Parks science-based criteria. They are the MPAs that are in the right places, with the right rules, and the right management to effectively protect…
Read MoreA (Marine) Conservation Carol Part 2: Visit from the Ghost of Conservation Present
How the Pandemic Impacted Ocean Conservation in 2020 and Why We Still Have Hope Before the year began, ocean advocates deemed 2020 the ‘ocean super year’ due to the number of planned meetings, conferences, decisions and political deadlines instrumental to marine conservation and fighting climate change throughout the year. We eagerly anticipated a year of…
Read MoreEarth is Talking and We Must Listen: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
For many of us, the past ten months have felt more like several years. The COVID-19 pandemic turned lives upside-down and put the health and well-being of people at risk across the globe. Stark changes to daily routines, new stressors, and the seemingly never-ending stream of news updates make it feel like this state of…
Read MoreNorth Atlantic Right Whales Move One Step Closer to Extinction as Trump Dismantles Protections
Earlier this month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced that the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) was moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered status on the IUCN Red List.[1] Less than 250 mature whales remain after a decade of continual population decline, with particularly elevated deaths since 2017. These extra…
Read MoreThe Role of Marine Protected Areas in the Fight Against Climate Change
Recently, Amazon CEO and the world’s wealthiest person, Jeff Bezos, pledged $10 billion to fight climate change, which he referred to as “the biggest threat to our planet,” via the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund. The vast opportunities created by such large philanthropic initiatives prompt thoughtful deliberation about the necessary actions to minimize and…
Read MoreFrontrunners in Global Marine Protection
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a vital tool for conserving marine biodiversity and ocean health in the face of human-caused threats, such as habitat destruction, overfishing, and climate change. They provide a wide range of benefits, such as increasing biodiversity and biomass, protecting endangered species, recovering overfished populations and sequestering carbon, justifying their inclusion as…
Read More2020 is Here – Will We Meet Global Conservation Targets for Marine Protected Areas?
Measuring Progress Toward Marine Conservation Goals 2020 is finally here. It’s a date that looms large in the fight to save the planet. This year marks the deadline for reaching the global target for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), to protect 10% of the world’s coastal and…
Read MoreU.S. SeaStates 2019: Marine Protection in America’s Ocean Areas
As we approach 2020, we see little change in marine protected areas (MPAs) in United States waters. At the end of 2019, 23.1% of U.S. waters are in strongly protected areas. 1.3% of state waters are strongly protected, compared to 23.9% of federal waters. These numbers are unchanged since the administration change in 2017. Despite lack of progress, based on numbers alone, the U.S. has achieved and exceeded protecting 10% of…
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