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The Nature Conservancy’s Audacious plan to save the world’s oceans
The Nature Conservancy Fisheries & Aquaculture
Today, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an international environmental non-profit organization, announced at TED in Vancouver, Canada a plan to drastically scale-up ocean conservation around the world. By delivering Blue Bonds for Ocean Conservation in as many as 20 countries over the next five years, TNC will help ensure the new protection of up to 1.5 million square miles (4 million km2) of the world’s most biodiversity-critical ocean habitats – a 15 percent increase in the amount of protected ocean that currently exists. This plan, which was selected from more than 1,500 The Audacious Project applicants, has already secured more than $23 million in funding from various donors out of the $40 million TNC ultimately requires to unlock $1.6 billion toward marine conservation.
Why is this important? Scientists estimate that with business as usual, 90 percent of coral reefs will be gone within our lifetimes. Eighty percent of global fisheries are already considered fully exploited or overexploited. Rising seas and stronger storms threaten 40 percent of the world’s population. Mangrove forests sequester four times more carbon than rainforests, yet they are disappearing at a pace three to five times faster. These ecosystems provide crucial resources and protection to coastal communities and their economies.
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