Conservation has no shortage of ambitious policy. Marine protected areas now cover roughly 8% of the world’s oceans. Protected lands account for nearly a fifth of the planet’s terrestrial surface. Community forest concessions span millions of hectares across the tropics. On paper, the progress is striking.
The Global Deep Sea Exploration Goals strategy is a spatially balanced, probability-based, actionable global sampling design identifying 10,000 target locations for deep-sea visual observation (≥200 m). This sampling approach integrates four seafloor characteristics: bathymetry, geomorphology, sediment composition, and particulate organic carbon flux, while accounting for documented historical deep-submergence deployments. It aims to correct for historical observational biases across factors such as depth zones, ocean basins, geomorphology, and maritime jurisdictions.
About 70 per cent of the species on Earth are insects. They are fundamental components of most ecosystems: they comprise half of the biomass on the planet, pollinate flowers, decompose dead organic matter and play multiple roles in food webs. They are quite literally everywhere, including in and around our homes, but they have also been declining at alarming rates in many places.
The 21st issue of SWOT Report features maps and a special article on sea turtles and traditions in the Pacific Islands written by experts in the region. Other articles include updated statuses of green turtle populations, Costa Rica’s newest arribada beach, and more.
Biodiversity is declining in many parts of the world. Biological diversity measurement and monitoring are fundamental to the assessment of the causes and consequences of environmental changes, identification of key areas for the protection of biodiversity or ecosystem services, determining the effectiveness of actions, and the creation of decision-support tools critical to maintaining a sustainable planet. Biodiversity measurement is rapidly changing due to advances in citizen science, image recognition, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA, genomics, remote sensing, and AI.
The assessment aligns with the Pacific Coral Reef Action Plan 2021–2030, supporting key action areas such as capacity building, habitat conservation, and research utilisation. Rather than imposing a uniform regional model, the recommendations emphasise tailored approaches that reflect national and sub regional priorities and governance structures, particularly given responsibilities for reef monitoring and management can vary from community-led to government-driven systems.
On paper, the sea is increasingly protected. Governments have designated vast marine protected areas (MPAs) and pledged to conserve 30% of the ocean by 2030. Maps shaded in reassuring blues now circulate widely. Yet the reality offshore often looks much the same as before. Industrial vessels still trawl through restricted waters, longliners set gear near vulnerable habitats, and sanctions for violations are sporadic. The problem is not a shortage of rules. It is the unevenness of enforcement.
Drawing on the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's Target 3 and the Ramsar Convention, this briefing note examines the synergies between Ramsar Site designations and OECM recognition, and what these mean for freshwater and coastal ecosystems.
With the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement, attention has rapidly shifted from negotiation to the practical realities of implementation. This policy brief focuses on what is needed now to operationalize Part IV on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) in the immediate term, as Parties prepare for the first Conference of the Parties (COP1).
