David Attenborough launches new initiative to protect 30% of world's oceans

Oceans surrounding the countries of Britain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia are witnessing the effects of overfishing on their marine biodiversity.Overfishing, along with climate change, has become a major cause of disturbing the biodiversity of the oceans.To tackle this, a new initiative is being launched by British naturalist David Attenborough to help communities profit from the efforts to protect at least 30% of the world's oceans by the decade's end.advertisement
This initiative is led by the NGO Dynamic Planet and the National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas programme and will assist local communities in their efforts to establish "marine protected areas" in coastal waters."The worst enemy of fishing is overfishing," Enric Sala, executive director of National Geographic Pristine Seas told Reuters.
Implementation of this treaty in the present year is essential to meet the global targets. (Photo: Getty)
The researchers also mentioned that protecting marine areas would have economic benefits, by improving fishing yields and boosting tourism.They also said Marine Protected Areas (MPA) creation has been far too slow, noting that more than 190,000 protected areas would need to be established in order to meet the "30 by 30" target - to bring 30% of the oceans under formal protection by 2030.advertisement"Reviving marine life revives local economies and communities. It's time for the world to recognise that MPAs are the building blocks of the blue economy," said Kristin Rechberger, the founder of Revive Our Ocean.The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which was signed in 2023 to protect ocean biodiversity, was signed by more than 100 countries, but ratified by just 21.The countries, except the United States, are meeting in New York this year to discuss further measures to be taken. Whereas the treaty needs ratification by 60 countries to come into force."Countries are pulling out all the stops to fast-track ratification in several places," said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance.Implementation of this treaty in the present year is essential to meet the global targets, as only 8% or 29 million square kilometres of oceans are protected.

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