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Sharks are some of the most threatened animals on Earth, with approximately one-third of all species assessed as threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List. These animals are not only older than dinosaurs, but older than trees, and yet they face a very real risk of extinction within our lifetimes. Their number one threat is unsustainable overfishing, driven by demand fed through complex international trade networks.

We must integrate effective protection with scalable restoration to ensure resilient coastal ecosystems. We identify five challenges, including unequal ecosystem coverage, spatial protections that are weak or centered offshore, compartmentalized restoration efforts, and policies that are not fit for purpose, and propose actionable solutions for scaling effective marine conservation. Emphasizing underserved habitats like kelp forests and seagrasses, we call for integrated, equitable, and community-supported strategies that align with global agendas and promote future coastal ecosystems.

Ecosystem restoration is recognised as a key strategy for confronting the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)1 sets an ambitious agenda to restore degraded ecosystems worldwide (FAO et al., 2021). However, while the ecological dimensions of restoration are widely documented, the socio-cultural aspects – especially gender – remain critically neglected. This exclusion undermines the effectiveness and equity of restoration efforts and contributes to entrenched inequalities (Oxfam, 2021).

Marine megafauna species are affected by a wide range of anthropogenic threats. To evaluate the risk of such threats, species’ vulnerability to each threat must first be determined. We build on the existing threats classification scheme and ranking system of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species by assessing the vulnerability of 256 marine megafauna species to 23 at-sea threats.

FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources in 1948. Since then, the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) has evolved into a comprehensive evaluation of forest resources and their condition, management and uses, covering all the thematic elements of sustainable forest management. This, the latest of these assessments, examines the status of, and trends in, forest resources over the period 1990–2025, drawing on the efforts of hundreds of experts worldwide.

lastic ingestion is a known cause of mortality across taxa, yet the quantitative risk plastic ingestion poses is still poorly understood. Based on data from more than 10,000 necropsies, we estimate the likelihood of mortality due to the gastrointestinal load of various plastic materials—hard, soft, rubber, and fishing debris—for seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. We find that 6 to 405 pieces of ingested macroplastic (or a volume between 0.044 and 39.89 cm3/cm body length) lead to a 90% chance of mortality in these marine species.

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Kiwa Initiative is launching a bilingual (French/English) awareness campaign aimed at strengthening understanding of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) among Pacific communities and practitioners.

Led by SPREP and the Pacific Community (SPC), this three-month campaign highlights the growing use of NbS across the region and presents practical tools to protect, manage, and restore ecosystems facing climate-related challenges such as coastal erosion, food and water insecurity, and biodiversity loss.

Surf ecosystems support biodiversity, cultural heritage, and local economies. With over 5,000 mapped surf breaks globally, many are in ecologically rich areas that store carbon and sustain marine life. Surfing generates an estimated US $50 billion annually, providing

Despite the recent rise in mangrove restoration projects, the extent to which many projects include social dimensions remains contested, with limited research informing insights from on-ground projects. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey of different stakeholders involved in mangrove restoration projects worldwide to understand the types of social values (e.g. shared preferences and local priorities) considered in mangrove projects and the processes used by practitioners to include various social values in such projects (e.g. participatory planning).

In the face of recent setbacks to coral reef conservation and restoration due to intensifying marine heat waves, new coral-focused strategies have been developed to accelerate natural processes of coral reef adaptation and recovery. In 2024, these “Reefs of Hope” strategies were endorsed by UNESCO as an Ocean Decade. This paper shares the progress made and methods used and translates the new paradigm into a proposed national coral-focused adaptation plan using Fiji as an example.