3. Oceans and Coasts
The marine environment comprises more than 75 per cent of the Earth's surface. The life that inhabits this largely unseen environment is extraordinarily diverse. While there are fewer species in the sea than on land, the sea contains a greater number of life forms. Moreover, the biological productivity of the richest regions of coastal areas rivals that of the most productive tropical forests.
Once thought to be almost immune to harm by humankind, we now know that deep-water and coastal ecosystems are under enormous and, often, disregarded threats. Coastal waters are among those most threatened by human activities. Much of WWF's work therefore focuses on the zone where land and sea meet, as well as on the river systems which deliver destructive pollutants to the coastal seas.
Many of the inhabitants of the open ocean, such as the great whales, turtles, and pelagic birds, are threatened by a variety of human actions, for example modern fishing methods and resulting bycatch. The currents that link seas and oceans mean that pollutants can be carried long distances, affecting areas far from their sources. Many of the more endangered species exist only in oceanic areas or migrate between international and nationally controlled waters. Since oceanic areas are outside national, or any other, control, the conservation of such species is extremely complex. The conservation of the marine environment will in many cases rely heavily on measures undertaken in other regions and to a large extent in other biomes (e.g. concerning soil erosion, pollutants, etc.).
In terms of maintaining global climatic stability, oceans are even more important than forests. Yet oceans and coasts are experiencing rapid degradation. Overfishing and pollution lead to an increasing number of marine areas facing total ecological collapse. Government action and international treaties are largely ineffective, while land-based sources of pollution are neglected or badly controlled.
WWF's Approach
To maintain the biodiversity and productivity of marine and coastal ecosystems and, where possible, to restore ecosystem functioning, WWF has established five closely linked strategic objectives:
- Establish a comprehensive global network of ecologically representative, well-managed marine protected areas designed to conserve critical ecosystems and areas of high biological diversity and productivity
- Conserve and secure the recovery of threatened marine species
- Introduce measures to ensure that fishing is carried out in a sustainable manner, in order to conserve genetic, species and ecosystem diversity
- Reduce and eliminate marine pollution from land-based and marine sources
- Promote integrated coastal management (ICM) as an underlying principle in the sustainable management of marine and coastal ecosystems.
These objectives will be addressed by a combination of field and policy projects, including initiatives to support and promote international treaties concerning the marine environment, and WWF's Endangered Seas Campaign.
Endangered Seas Campaign
The Endangered Seas Campaign seeks to reverse the effects of unsustainable fishing on marine fishes and the ocean ecosystems on which they depend. It has three targets:
1. To establish effective no-fishing zones in at least five globally important marine ecoregions threatened by fishing by 2001.
2. To reduce fisheries subsidies in the European Union by 25 per cent by 2001.
3. To ensure that at least ten fisheries are independently certified to Marine Stewardship Council standards by 2001.