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Coral reefs face catastrophic collapse. Thermal tipping points for widespread, irreversible dieback have already been passed at 1.2–1.4°C of global warming. The ocean is already 30% more acidic since the Industrial Revolution began, weakening coral reefs growth – akin to the osteoporosis of the sea.

Unless we reduce global emissions at extraordinary speed and scale mass restoration with thermal resistant coral resilient to increasingly acidic waters – the future is dire: at 1.5°C, we lose 70-90% of reefs; at 2°C: 99% destruction. 

Target 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls for the protection of 30% of terrestrial areas, inland waters, and marine and coastal areas through area-based conservation (protected areas and other effective conservation measures) by 2030. As we progress toward this target, there is a need to critically evaluate the potential impacts of marine area-based measures on small-scale fishing communities, whose well-being is intrinsically entwined with marine ecosystems.

The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) outlines targets for protecting and restoring biodiversity by 2030, with the vision of “living in harmony with nature” by 2050. Although the 20-year vision clearly is aspirational, we emphasize that many forest attributes crucial for biodiversity—such as the abundance of large trees and the availability of dead wood—recover over much longer timescales.

Mangrove forests, located along tropical and subtropical coastlines, are increasingly recognized for their role in buffering climate disasters, storing carbon, supporting wildlife and livelihoods. Yet even as interest in mangrove conservation and restoration has surged in recent years, many projects fail — seedlings die, sites degrade further or communities disengage.

The world has four years left to achieve the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Target 3, which calls for the conservation of at least 30% of planet Earth by 2030 (the 30×30 target). This global effort requires countries to acknowledge and support a wide range of governance systems that deliver sustained biodiversity outcomes within and beyond protected areas.

Ocean sustainability demands interdisciplinary knowledge. While interdisciplinary collaborations involving the natural sciences are common, few have also included the ocean humanities despite the entanglement of human culture and history with the ocean. We
a team of both ocean scientists and humanities researchers outline a framework for integrating these disciplines. We show how

Ocean warming is increasing the frequency, extent, and severity of tropical-coral bleaching and mortality. During 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused the Third Global Coral Bleaching Event. We analyze data from 15,066 reef surveys globally during 2014–2017. Across all surveyed reefs, 80% and 35% experienced moderate or greater (affecting >10% of corals) bleaching and mortality, respectively.

For decades, a dominant argument for protecting forests has focused on carbon. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, store it in wood and soils, and slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases. A new scientific review suggests this emphasis overlooks other ways forests shape climate and human well-being. Forests, it argues, are not only a mitigation tool for the future climate. They also help people adapt to climate change today, shaping temperature, water and human well-being in ways that are felt locally.

Meeting the ambitious targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) will require expanding ecosystem restoration across governance domains for marine and coastal ecosystems. Marine spatial planning (MSP), which balances the development of multiple human uses in the ocean with the preservation of ecosystem health, might be the most effective vehicle for achieving this aim. However, to date, MSP and restoration efforts have proceeded on separate tracks, and biodiversity loss continues.

Since 2023, the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) has been collaborating with the Koror State Government (KSG) to conduct research and monitoring aimed at providing essential baseline data to guide the Koror Southern Lagoon Coastal Fisheries Management Plan, a new fisheries management initiative for Koror State. The management plan identified several fish spawning aggregation sites for protection, including the longnose emperor (melangmud, Lethrinus olivaceus) at Mutiaur.