The eighth annual Our Ocean Conference took place in Panama March 2-3.

Participants made 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion, including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors.

One key announcement came from Panama, which said it would protect more than 54% of its marine region.

Read the story from @ECAlberts

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/panama-ocean-conference-draws-20-billion-marine-biodiversity-commitments/

#News #Ocean #Panama #Conservation #Environment #ConservationFinance #MarineProtection

In Chile’s Valparaíso region, artisanal fishers have created grassroots marine reserves to protect marine biodiversity.

The areas are small, some of them just 15 hectares (37 acres) in size, but they provide a haven for marine creatures to grow and reproduce.

By Michelle Carrere.

#News #Chile #MarineProtection #Oceans #Fish #Environment #Conservation #Marine

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/fishing-communities-create-marine-refuges-to-protect-chiles-biodiversity/

Scientists say future deep-sea mining activities could impact cetaceans through noise pollution, which could interfere with their communication processes.

Most assessments of deep-sea mining impact have focused on species associated with the seabed rather than transitory megafauna that inhabit the proposed mining areas, scientists say.

Read the story from Elizabeth Claire Alberts

#Oceans #News #Environment #Conservation #MarineProtection #DeepSeaMining
#Whales

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/potential-impact-on-whales-overlooked-as-deep-sea-mining-looks-set-to-start/

Paying fishers in Indonesia to not catch sharks and rays could be a cost-effective way of conserving these species, a new study suggests.

Interviews with fishers at two sites shows that payments of $71,408-$235,927 per year could protect up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish at those sites.

Read the story from Cassie Freund.

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/study-paying-fishers-to-ease-off-sharks-and-rays-is-cost-effective-conservation/

#Oceans #Sharks #Rays #Conservation #Environment #News #MarineProtection

Global News BC: Global ocean protection conference in B.C. looks to build on COP15 work https://globalnews.ca/news/9457175/global-ocean-conservation-conference-impac5-vancouver/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #UNoceanconservationconference #IMPAC5conferencevancouver #OceanConservation #IMPAC5conference #marineprotection #COP15conference #StevenGuilbeaul #cop15montreal #Environment #MarineLife #Politics #Canada #IMPAC5

It's pretty encouraging to see more marine protected areas established in Indonesia on top of the one's established last year. Here's the Monday News Breakdown from @mongabay

#News #Environment #IndigenousPeoples #Conservation #TraditionalKnowledge #MarineProtection #Indonesia

https://youtube.com/shorts/HxRJHLLYhiw?feature=share

Developers at Flinders University and the German biotech company one • five have created a seaweed-based coating designed to replace plastics used in fast food packaging.

Many food containers and wrappers contain harmful plastics derived from fossil fuels that do not biodegrade and break into tiny microplastics that pollute the environment and harm marine ecosystems.

#News #Plastics #PlasticWaste #MarineProtection #Conservation #Environment

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/