Dear subscriber, “Restoring Ocean Health” was one of the seven main themes at the IUCN World Conservation Congress that came to a close in Marseille last month. The current climate emergency and the future of our oceans are interlinked, as climate change directly affects the oceans’ temperature and pH levels. Changes in water temperature and ocean acidification directly impact the diversity of marine life, and jeopardise the ecosystems which people depend on. Out of 137 Motions approved during this Congress cycle, 37 related to oceans, 52 to species conservation, and 20 to both oceans and species. Motions approved at Congress are the backbone of IUCN’s decision-making process as they can become Resolutions and Recommendations, which are IUCN’s most effective means of influencing conservation policy. This is why the prominence of oceans at Congress is so significant for the future of species conservation and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. In order to contribute to the resilience of marine ecosystems and the communities dependent upon them, IUCN Save Our Species is happy to announce that we will be funding a project in 2021 to protect the Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale under our Lacoste x IUCN Save Our Species initiative. |
