The Year of the Sea-Change?



Dr Claude Martin, WWF International Director General, visits the Oceanario, Europe's largest aquarium and the centerpiece of EXPO '98.





There are some fishermen whose daily catch is reduced to almost nothing: off Bazaruto Island, Mozambique these men are luckier.






 
By Someshwar Singh*
This is the International Year of the Ocean and attention is focused as never before on the marine environment. But promises and rhetoric must be translated into action if some of the earth's most valuable resources are to be protected.

Gland, Switzerland: At the dawn of the 21st century, the world's oceans are becoming more important than they have ever been. Over the next 20 years, the volume of international trade will nearly treble and more than 90 per cent of this trade will move by sea. In addition, 16 of our largest cities - those with more than 2.5 million inhabitants - are on or close to the sea.

The implications of all this for the marine environment are profound, but there are other reasons why we must learn to manage our oceans sustainably. With discoveries of new drugs to maintain human health beginning to dwindle, the chemical riches of the seas offer a new frontier.

This year marks the International Year of the Ocean and Expo '98, which opened in Portugal in May and runs until September, and is dedicated to the oceans of the world. This helps to raise awareness of marine conservation, but the fact is that although the oceans cover 70 per cent of the earth's surface, most people's environmental concerns remain terrestrial.

Yet the threats to the seas are perhaps as dangerous as anything found on land. Dwindling fish stocks mean reduced food supplies and the loss of a fundamental economic activity among fishing communities. Disputes round the world over territorial fishing rights continue as competition for fish increases, and catches decrease. Some fishermen's daily catch is now reduced to almost nothing.

Coral reefs, seen by many scientists to be as valuable as rainforests, are suffering irreversible damage. The World Resources Institute estimates that human activity is threatening the future of nearly 60 per cent of the world's coral reefs, the most endangered being Southeast Asia, where an estimated 82 per cent are considered to be at medium or high risk. Out in the deep oceans, away from the economic zones of nations, there are worries about the future of majestic creatures such as the bluefin tuna, the swordfish, and the great whales. There have been some conservation victories, but more than 18,000 whales have been killed since the international moratorium on whaling came into effect in 1985-1986.

There is growing evidence that, in addition to being hunted directly, whales are facing an increasingly wide range of new threats, particularly from dangerous chemicals.

WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature and the IUCN-World Conservation Union, have just released their first global strategy for marine conservation, entitled Creating a Sea Change: A Vision for Our Blue Planet. This policy provides a blueprint to save our seas, laying down actions that every section of society - governments, industry, communities, and individuals - can take to reverse the current degradation of the marine environment.

The Director of WWF's Endangered Seas Campaign, Michael Sutton, says: "The global profile of ocean conservation has never been higher, but action must follow rhetoric. WWF is calling on governments and businesses to make new commitments to marine conservation during the International Year of the Ocean."

The five priorities indentified by WWF/IUCN are:

  • Establishment and effective management of marine protected areas
  • Conservation and recovery of threatened marine species
  • Sustainable management of fisheries
  • Reduction and elimination of marine pollution
  • Promotion of integrated coastal management.
Some progress has been made under the auspices of WWF's Living Planet Campaign, which exhorts people to make conservation part of their everyday lives.

For example, the government of Turkey, has made a marine Gift to the Earth" by protecting habitats of the Mediterranean Monk Seal, the rarest seal in the world, with total surviving numbers estimated to be less than 300. In Ecuador, the government has passed a Galapagos Conservation Law to help reduce the threats of increasing human pressure and over-fishing in the islands.

But more nations must change their policies and make wise decisions on the management of marine resources so that we may view the future of our oceans with hope.

Changing course is not so difficult. As US President Bill Clinton recently observed at the National Ocean Conference in Monterey, California, "Fortunately, we have learned that, along with the ability to harm, we also have the ability to heal."

*Someshwar Singh is a Press Officer with WWF International