A Mission to Protect the World’s Marine Areas

Oceana, the largest organization dedicated to ocean conservation, and its partners are making progress in protecting important natural marine habitats around the world.

Mexico’s Bajos del Norte National Park is home to one of said important marine habitats: an ocean area covering more than 13,000 square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico. During research expeditions to the area in 2021 and 2022, the nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana justified the area’s importance within biodiversity, helping it to officially become a Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Oceana also aided in the creation of seven new MPAs in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, including in the Canary Island Seamounts, the Ibiza Channel, and the western Strait of Gibraltar, among others. The new MPAs cover over 90,000 square kilometres, helping protect critical ecosystems, marine species, and essential natural resources. Oceana also pursued its efforts in Chile, ultimately receiving the good news that the country will further protect its kelp forests by establishing laws that will ensure that proper techniques are used for cultivating kelp within the country. These recent wins are moving the conservation organization closer to its goal of protecting 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030.