New Marine Conservation Initiative Aims to Protect the Indian Ocean

A new network of marine conservation, coined the Great Blue Wall, has been created by ten countries with the goal of promoting transboundary cooperation in an effort to protect the great Indian Ocean. 

The Great Blue Wall initiative — created by Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and France —will encompass coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass meadows, all critical components to a healthy ocean. 

“Corals, mangroves, and seagrasses are vital organs of the ocean. Like a human body, if you don’t take care of those organs, the rest of the ocean will not survive,” explained Thomas Sberna, a regional head for Eastern and Southern Africa at the global conservation authority, International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

Without such measures, a recent assessment revealed that all coral reefs in the region are at a high risk of collapsing within the next 50 years. Further, only 5-8% of the Indian Ocean is currently under some form of legal protection. The Great Blue Wall will complement previously existing marine conservation initiatives, such as the Nairobi Convention and the Indian Ocean Rim Association, in the hopes of preventing overfishing and protecting the ocean against oil and gas extraction.