Ocean Preservation

The marine environment – including the oceans and all seas and adjacent areas wishing to protect the ocean and implement marine life conservation – forms an integrated whole that is a foundational component of the global life-support system and a positive asset that presents opportunities for sustainable development. New approaches to ocean preservation and marine life conservation and development that are integrated and designed and maintained by people on the local level, with integrated approaches for application even on the individual level, would be beneficial.

OVERVIEW

• Ocean preservation
• Marine life conservation
• Sustainable use of marine resources
• Sustainable development of small islands

OCEAN PRESERVATION

Coastal areas contain diverse and productive habitats helpful for human settlements, development, and local subsistence. More than half of the world’s population lives within 60 km of the coastline, and this could rise to three quarters by the year 2020. Many of the world’s poorest people are living in crowded coastal areas and they want to protect the ocean and implement marine life conservation.

Coastal resources are vital for many local communities and indigenous people. The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is also a valuable marine area where the people manage the development and conservation of natural resources for the benefit of themselves and the ecosystem. For small island people or locations, EEZ areas are the most available for development activities. We have the ability to manage these areas and marine resources so they are sustainably used, preserved, and ultimately regenerated for us and all future generations.

Ideas for those interested in implementation

• Consider becoming a “citizen of the ocean” through the World Ocean Network.
• Citizenship helps promote a common sense of belonging to the one global ocean, and implies the active participation of each person in its sustainable development.
• Commit to ocean protection by taking the Seven C’s Pledge The Ocean Project. Also take a look at the Passport for citizenship of the ocean The Passport is a wonderful educational tool, a starting point to open up debates, to organize awareness raising activities, to mobilize your public for ocean protection.
• Learn about effective ways to conserve water using this 100 ways to Conserve Water link
• Buy a water-saving shower head – here’s a resource evaluating the best of the best
• Use this resource from the NRDC to learn about water pollution facts
• Have a listen to this TED Talk (18 min) featuring researcher Sylvia Earle on how we can protect the ocean

• Do you enjoy volunteering on the internet? You can Get involved with the World Water Monitoring Challenge.
• Learn about ocean acidification through this wonderful short film (12 min)

• You can also help by getting involved in organizing or participating in a World Oceans Day event in your community. Click here to learn more.
• Host a beach, river, lake, wetland, or underwater cleanup. Contact local dive and water sport shops to help organize and spread the word. You can recruit volunteers through the media, community posters, or local youth groups. Here is a guide on how to host your own beach cleanup.
• Get cleanup volunteers to “adopt” a local beach, river, lake, wetland, or underwater area to help keep it clean. Join forces with local environmental groups to help manage and provide resources to these volunteers. Click here to learn how.

MARINE LIFE CONSERVATION 

Degradation of the marine environment can also result from a wide range of activities on land. Human settlements, land use, construction of coastal infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, urban development, tourism and industry can affect the marine environment. Coastal erosion and siltation are of particular concern. There is currently no global scheme to address marine pollution from land-based sources.

Ideas for those interested in implementation

• Consider becoming more aware of alternative tourism channels. Eco-tourism avoids the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhances the cultural integrity of the local people. Green Travel involves traveling with the objectives of avoiding any environmental or social impact both to the areas visited and to the global environment.
• Here is a great guide for Eco-Tourism: A Guide to Recreation, Travel Specialty, and Travel Eco-tourism

Here is more information about how you can practice eco-tourism/green travel:

• Get involved with the International Eco-Tourism Society
• Learn about the different land-based sources of marine pollution using this comprehensive resource from the UN’s Caribbean Environment Program
• Learn about the treatment of Urban Sewage using this online course from edX
• Learn how Organic farming can reduce marine pollution
• Build your own home-scale waste water treatment plant

Watch the video below to learn how to build your own septic tank to remove sediments from waste water:

SUSTAINABLE USE OF MARINE RESOURCES

Marine resources includes things like fisheries and other goods harvested from the ocean. The common challenge is that marine resources are often overused and exploited, leading to pollution, destruction, and depletion. The solution to this challenge is creating environmentally sound and sustainable methods of gathering, utilizing, and engaging with marine life and ocean environments.

Ideas for those interested in implementation

• Courtesy of the Marine Stewardship Council; find a supplier for sustainable seafood products, find a restaurant that serves sustainably sourced seafood, or buy sustainable marine products
• Use Seafood Watch’s Sustainable Seafood Search to select products that are fished or farmed in ways that have less impact on the environment
• Learn about the Sustainable Shipping Initiative that brings together some of the biggest names in the maritime sector for planning sustainable shipping practices
• Have a look at this resource  from the National Petroleum Council on the steps being taken to promote sustainability in off-shore drilling
• Click here for sustainable fishing tips

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLANDS 

People on developing small islands and islands supporting small communities are a special case in regards to environment and development because they are ecologically fragile and vulnerable. Their small size, limited resources, geographic dispersion and isolation from markets, place them at a disadvantage economically and prevent economies from growing very large. For small island developing nations, the ocean and coastal environment is of strategic importance and constitutes a valuable developmental resource. The geographic isolation of these islands has resulted in a habitation of a comparatively large number of unique species of flora and fauna, giving the islands a very high share of global biodiversity. The islands also have rich and diverse cultures with special adaptations to island environments and knowledge of practical and sustainable management of island resources.

Ideas for those interested in implementation

• Consider becoming more informed about island sustainability by checking out the following video on comparable examples of sustainable and unsustainable societies including the islands of Tikopia, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and the countries on the island of Hispaniola, The Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

• Read the UN Environment Program’s Guidance_Manual_on Valuation and Accounting of Ecosystem Services in Small Island Developing States. The manual provides a step-by-step methodological approach to select, design and implement island ecosystem services, valuation, accounting exercises, and shares case study examples of accounting and valuation techniques.
• Have a look at the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Knowledge base on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States. It offers a repository of current policy and practice relating to sustainable development of small island states as well as the latest sustainability news from these areas.
• Consider becoming more knowledgeable on agro-ecosystem island sustainability
• Consider becoming more aware of tuna fishing practices so that you can adjust your buying decisions according. Check this video (14 minutes) on tuna fishing practices on Mabul island, Semporna, and Sabah. Semporna is part of the Sulu-Sulawsi Marine Eco region and the Coral Triangle. WWF-Malaysia is working with the fishermen, the local government and responsible tuna fishers to improve the fishery and to pursue a fully sustainable fishery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAzlOPAjVTE