Global efforts to protect the ocean are falling significantly short

Researchers say United Nations-promoted protections for marine areas worldwide are underachieving at reaching “tangible biodiversity outcomes.”(CN) — While a United Nations environmental initiative has ambitions to formally protect 30% of Earth’s oceans by the next decade, some scientists say that 2030 goal isn’t even close.An Australian-led research study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the goal as about 28% out of reach, and as “being undermined by a primary focus on total area protected rather than realized conservation outcomes.”192 UN member states have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity, a treaty devised in the 1990s to promote international environmentalism and sustainable human development. While former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Convention, in 1992, the United States still stands alone in refusing to ratify it.Like other UN agreements, actual enforcement of the treaty’s encompassed targets and policies falls upon individual states, which can invite ineffectual self-policing.But the treaty’s ideals, updated for the modern age by the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, serve as prominent benchmarks. Notably, this new framework strives for “30 by 30” — a goal that 30% of the planet’s aquatic and land regions will be designated as protected by 2030.But environmental conservation, in practice, is about much more than percentage points on paper, the researchers say.Scientists say in the study that these statistics have the potential to mislead; not all protected areas are created equal, and simply labeling an area as protected doesn’t change the reality on the ground — or underwater.Australian scientists, supported by European and North American research partners, believe that few marine protected areas, or MPAs, actually accomplish their nominal task, while many lack strong restrictions and high compliance with conservation efforts.The study analyzed fish populations in 552 MPA zones, focusing on shallow coral and rocky reef areas, comparing them to unprotected areas and extrapolating that data to reach larger conclusions.“Fishing is one of the greatest potential threats to marine biodiversity,” the scientists wrote. “Consequently, restrictions on fishing are typically the primary management mechanisms used to achieve biodiversity outcomes in MPAs … Our global evaluation extends this approach by considering that for an MPA to be considered truly effective, protection from fishing should translate into measurable underwater outcomes for fishes.”At best, the scientists estimate that less than a fourth of MPAs succeed at providing effective protection for shallow reef ecosystems.“If shallow reefs reflect broader trends, less than 2% of the ocean currently receives meaningful biodiversity protection,” they wrote. In contrast, the figure UN members have reported towards the Kunming-Montreal framework is 9.8%.Both figures remain distant from the 30% ambition, with a timer of less than four years to make up that sizable difference.The scientists warn of an international “concerning and pervasive tendency toward overestimating the effective protection provided by the global MPA network,” and mention illegal fishing as a primary factor in weakening MPA efficacy.With heightened enforcement and social awareness, the research team believes 30 by 30 isn’t out of the question.But simply considering MPA percentage points while not analyzing effectiveness, they say, “is akin to enacting international policy change to mediate global carbon emissions but failing to monitor subsequent changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads