Greenpeace’s latest report shows that at the current pace of creation of marine protected areas, the target of protecting 30% of marine and coastal ecosystems is not likely to be achieved by 2030 as provided for in the Kunming agreement.
It will take another two hundred and sixty-five years for 30% of the planet’s oceans to be fully protected. This is revealed by the latest Greenpeace report, published on Monday, October 19, on the occasion of the opening of the 17thUnited Nations Conference of the Parties (COP17) on biological diversity, which is currently being held in Erevan, Armenia.
However, the Kunming-Montreal agreement, signed in 2022 at COP15 biodiversity, provides that this target of 30% protection of marine and coastal ecosystems – one of the 23 objectives on which the 195 signatory parties agreed – will be achieved by 2030. « Currently, only 3.5% of the planet’s oceans are completely or strongly protected from destructive human activities, such as trawl fishing, » notes the Italian site specialized in environmental issues Green & Blue.
Entitled “Well connected”, the report also shows that in thirty-four years, since countries initially agreed to establish a network of marine protected areas after the Rio Earth Summit, the actual protected areas have increased by just 0.1% per year, on average. Some countries are more driving than others on the subject.
Create a network of marine reserves
“I welcome the progress of our government, but the protection of the oceans remains too slow,” insists in Business Green Sarah Champion, president of the multiparty parliamentary group for the ocean in the United Kingdom.
For example, the authors of the report identified 17 sites to be protected – or which are already protected areas and whose level of protection should be strengthened – which could be linked together to create a network of sanctuaries in the Atlantic.READ ALSO: Biodiversity. Nearly 11,700 new viruses discovered in the Pacific deep seabedAdd to Favourites
“Only a network of closely connected and fully protected marine reserves can preserve migratory species, such as whales or turtles, throughout their journey, and thus prevent them from being killed by industrial fishing, or hit by cargo ships, » Lukas Meus, Ocean Campaign Manager at Greenpeace International, hammers in Green & Blue. It’s the only way to allow them to move, feed and reproduce safely.”
source : courrier international
