HSA in the News

Marine Conservation Institute Tracks Global MPAs

19 December, 2014

In partnership with the Waitt Foundation, Marine Conservation Institute (MCI) has been tracking global progress towards protecting oceans using data curated on its website MPAtlas. Presently, only 2.1% of the global ocean is under marine protected area management and an even smaller percentage have the strongest level of protection, no-take marine reserves (0.83%). To help inform progress, earlier this year Marine Conservation Institute added a new tool, “Campaign Tracker” that helps people explore the progress of global marine protected area campaigns and initiatives. It shows where governments and conservation groups are working to designate new marine protections around the world.

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Thomas Friedman interviews Environment Ministers at WPC

17 November, 2014

On Monday, Nov. 17, at the World Parks Congress in Sydney Australia, noted New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman, co-moderated with NRDC’s Director of the International Ocean Programme, Lisa Speer, a special panel featuring Environment Ministers Greg Hunt and Edna Molewa, respectively from Australia and South Africa. Other notable guests on the panel included Global Ocean Commissioner Robert Hill, and the Executive Secretary of Guatemala’s National Commission on Protected Areas, Benedicto Lucas. The audience was filled with numerous marine experts, including Dr. Sylvia Earle, and Dan Laffoley, Marine Vice-Chair for the World Commission on Protected Areas.

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Join us live during the High Seas Google Hangout: Championing the High Seas

5 November, 2014

High Seas Alliance members will be participating in a number of activities during the World Parks Congress (WPC) taking place in Sydney Australia from 12-19 November. This landmark global forum meets once every decade and sets the agenda on protected areas — for both land and sea — for the next decade.

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A Wave of Change for the High Seas

29 October, 2014

This winter the High Seas Alliance is building a Wave of Change for the high seas and we want you to join in! Why a Wave of Change? Simple, it’s to raise public awareness about the dire state of our ocean and the urgent need for better protection and governance of the high seas.

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260,000 People Call for a New International Agreement to Protect the High Seas

22 September, 2014

On Sunday evening, September 21, as leaders from around the world gathered in New York City at the start of the UN General Assembly’s 69th session, Global Ocean Commissioner co-chair Trevor Manuel, together with National Geographic explorer-in-residence Dr. Sylvia Earle, delivered a petition to His Excellency UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson at an event organized by The Ocean Elders. Reaching over 260,000 signatures, the petition asks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support a call to the UN General Assembly to initiate negotiations for a high seas agreement to protect ocean health for the future.

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HSA Welcomes Entry into Force of Access and Benefit Sharing Treaty

15 July, 2014

The High Seas Alliance welcomes the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol, which provides a transparent legal framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources from within countries.

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For the Ocean’s Sake, Tame the High Seas ‘Wild West’

24 June, 2014

Source: Huffpost
Author: Sigourney Weaver

My love of the oceans started early. My father was a Navy man, and he insisted our family live near a body of saltwater at all times. I was raised listening to foghorns by night and following horseshoe crabs by day.

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Global Ocean Commission Releases a Report

24 June, 2014

The Global Ocean Commission, made up of former Heads of State, Government ministers and prominent business leaders, has spent 18 months investigating the decline of the global ocean and has developed a rescue package of eight proposals to restore and protect its natural capital and services. The proposals are the culmination of exhaustive deliberations and extensive consultation with experts and stakeholders to inform and shape these proposals.

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BBNJ Side Event Showcased “Living Treasures of the High Seas” in support of MPAs

19 June, 2014

On Wednesday, June 18, the High Seas Alliance showcased a visual journey of the high seas with photographs by leading marine photojournalists generously provided by the International League of Conservation Photographers. Moderated by Lisa Speer, Director of the International Oceans Program at Natural Resources Defense Council, the panel included Charlotte Vick, Mission Blue and Google Earth “Explore the Ocean” curator, Dr. Kirsten r, Ph.D., Marine Ecologist at Oregon State University, and Kristina Gjerde, IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme.

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Caribbean Countries Consider Implementing Agreement at Regional Workshop

28 May, 2014

The Jamaican government, in collaboration with the High Seas Alliance and Pew Charitable Trusts, hosted a regional workshop for CARICOM from 19-21 May in Kingston, Jamaica to consider a new implementing agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction.

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