Oceana applauds yesterday’s decision by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, to protect the Émile Baudot and Ausiàs March seamounts as well as the Fort d’en Moreu coral reef. The international marine conservation organization spent years documenting these seabeds and actively campaigning for the Spanish and Balearic governments to protect these highly ecologically valuable … Read more
1.- The combined size of the world’s MPAs exceeds the size of Europe. While that might sound like a very large area, the MPAs in fact cover less than 3 percent of the world’s oceans according to IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature). 2.- Only around 1 percent of the world’s oceans are closed to … Read more
The research catamaran of the international organisation for marine conservation, Oceana, is at this moment sailing in the Gulf of Genoa, where it is filming the ecosystems of the sea bottom. The aim is to document the state of conservation of a number of habitats which the organisation would like to see included in the … Read more
The new Ministerial Order, which establishes an Integral Fisheries Management Plan for the Mediterranean Sea, includes for the first time the protection of habitats of great importance in the Mediterranean against the impact of bottom trawling, purse-seining and drag nets. Up until now, only the marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica enjoyed this protection, but with the … Read more
During the stopover of the Ranger catamaran at Cocos Island (Costa Rica) and Coiba (Panama), Oceana divers worked alongside the MarViva Foundation in this natural reserve. The Coiba National Park (Panama), which forms part of the Meso-American Biological Corridor, together with the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Gorgona and Malpelo in Colombia, and Cocos Island in … Read more
WASHINGTON _ Former Colombian President César Gaviria, whose 10-year leadership of the Organization of American States (OAS) revitalized that hemispheric institution, today joined the fight for healthy seas around the world by becoming a member of the Board of Directors of Oceana, the only international conservation group solely dedicated to ocean protection. “As Arvid Pardo, … Read more
We thought it was high time to bring back a Friday tradition we started a while ago, to introduce our readers to some interesting sea creatures. This week, we are featuring the spiny sea star (Marthaasterias glacialis). Sea stars belong to the Echinodermata phylum, which also includes sea urchins, sea cucumbers and brittle stars. Most … Read more
So there you are in your car on the highway, blasting Creedence on the stereo, wind in your hair. Everybody’s speeding a little bit; you just go with the flow. Then all of a sudden a police car shows up and instantly the average speed drops about 20 km/per hour. Have you thought about how … Read more
All proposed areas include vulnerable, threatened or declining species or communities which need immediate protection. Oceana is proposing new marine protected areas (MPAs) in order to enhance the status of the Baltic Sea, and improve the condition of its badly disturbed ecosystems. The twelve areas proposed are located in the waters of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, … Read more
Oceana proposes multiplying by 10 the protected surface, including sensitive habitats and endangered species that lie beyond the park boundaries. Alexandra Cousteau, Jacques Cousteau’s granddaughter and an Oceana advisor, has travelled to the Balearics to support the proposal for the enlargement of the Cabrera National Park. The visit will take place 36 years after the … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
