Implementation costs of restoring global mangrove forests

Mangroves provide numerous ecosystem services and are increasingly recognized as a natural climate solution. As a result, multiple recent initiatives have set ambitious mangrove restoration targets. However, there has been little research estimating the costs of achieving such targets, either site by site or in aggregate. Here, we spatially model the costs of restoring mangroves globally based on reported implementation costs from 249 restoration projects in 25 countries.

Navigator - a global database of verified marine protected and managed area regulations and boundaries

Comprehensive, global, and standardized data on ocean regulations are essential to assess protection levels. They are also key to successfully measuring progress towards 30 × 30 goals. ProtectedSeas’ Navigator is a repository of regulatory and spatial data for over 21,700 unique marine managed areas globally, with summaries of restricted fishing and marine activities extracted from official regulations.

Trade regulations drive improved global shark and ray management

International wildlife trade contributes to the loss of biodiversity and has driven several terrestrial and aquatic species to extinction. Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates, with overfishing considered the primary threat causing substantial global population declines. To prevent further depletions driven by the demand for and trade in shark and ray products. Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed 44 species on Appendices I and II between 2003–2019.

Increasing Pacific Islander research and authorship in the academic literature

Disseminating research through academic publishing is essential for contributing to global knowledge, advancing critical fields and finding solutions to humanity’s challenges. However, for Pacific Islanders, navigating the path to publication can feel like crossing a vast ocean while weighed down by systemic barriers that make sharing knowledge, lived experiences and unique worldviews with the broader academic community difficult.

Protecting Blue Corridors

Whales and dolphins rely on critical ocean habitats – areas where they feed, mate, give birth, nurse young, socialize, and migrate – for their survival. These areas are connected by migratory pathways known as blue corridors, essential to their life cycle. Safe passage along these corridors is crucial for maintaining healthy populations and ensuring whales can thrive across entire ocean basins.

MPA Enforcement Toolkit

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are essential for conserving marine biodiversity, ensuring sustainable fisheries, and maintaining the health of ocean ecosystems. They also provide economic and cultural benefits, including ecotourism opportunities and the preservation of livelihoods for coastal communities. However, merely establishing an MPA is generally insufficient to secure these protections and benefits.

Guidelines on harvesting threatened species

1. Societies around the globe harvest wild species, to a greater or lesser extent, for food, building materials, healthcare, medicines, pest control, ornamentation, income, recreation, and cultural and spiritual purposes. While this use of wild species directly contributes to the well-being of billions of people globally, over-exploitation of wild species is one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss.

Partner support and interactions with communities show mixed effects on governance of community-based resources

Community-based natural resource management is recognized as an effective area-based conservation approach. Accordingly, conservation organizations worldwide are providing support to local communities seeking to sustainably manage and use their local natural resources. However, there is little understanding of how different types of support provided by partner organizations influence local community governance of these resources.

Management approach matters: meeting seagrass recovery and carbon mitigation goals

Seagrass habitats support biodiversity, improve water quality, protect coastlines, and sequester carbon, among other essential ecosystem functions, yet they are declining worldwide due to human activity. Seagrass restoration and conservation can act as nature-based solutions for climate change, garnering growing interest from a diversity of stakeholders globally. Despite this interest, no seagrass projects have yet received carbon credits under international voluntary carbon standards.