It puts food on the table and underpins trillions of dollars of economic activity worldwide. It does all this freely. But not for long. The ocean is heading for a collapse.
Because the ocean belongs to everyone – and to no one – too many have taken too much. Centuries of overuse and neglect threaten to leave us with a vast blue desert. It is time to change the way we see the ocean – from a place where we take what we want and dump what we don’t, to a shared resource of immense value.
WWF is working to generate a new wave of support for sustainable seas. We will show leaders how a healthy ocean fosters economic development. We will celebrate and scale up the work of coastal and fishing communities to protect the resources they depend on. And we’ll give everyone the opportunity to speak out for our blue planet. Join us.
© Jürgen Freund / WWFWith their jewel hues and dazzling diversity of shapes and sizes, coral reefs are natural eye candy. And that’s beauty with a purpose: Worldwide, reefs provide livelihoods, food and tourism estimated to be worth nearly a trillion dollars each year.
The ocean has been a source of food for tens of thousands of years. Today, fisheries are an important source of protein for billions of people.
Covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean includes a wondrous array of habitats and species – from tiny plankton to the largest creature on Earth, the blue whale. And it’s all connected. When links in the food chain are broken anywhere, the system is weakened everywhere.
The ocean freely provides products and services worth at least $2.5 trillion a year. Fisheries support more than 260 million jobs – 50 million of which are small-scale or subsistence in places where other work could be very hard to find.
Roughly half the world's population lives within 100 kilometres of the sea, and three-quarters of all large cities are located on the coast. But damage done to reefs and mangroves in the name of development puts those communities and cities at risk.
People destroy fragile marine habitats in multiple ways, from small scale to large. Whether it’s harmful fishing gear or pollution from inland farms and cities, such destruction is the result of putting short-term gain over our long-term well-being.
The story of the ocean is a tragedy of the commons. Individuals – whether people, companies or nations – have put their own interests above those of their neighbour. Strong governance at all levels, from local tradition to international treaty, is needed urgently.
As the atmosphere has warmed, so has the ocean. This can affect the way nutrients move through the water, disrupt weather patterns and increase storm intensity. The ocean has also absorbed about 30% of the carbon dioxide humans have added to the atmosphere, making it more acidic. This spells trouble for coral reefs, the ocean’s most diverse ecosystem.
With 90% of fish stocks fully exploited or significantly depleted, we must act fast to ease the pressure. Yet the opposite seems to be happening. Faced with the collapse of high-value fisheries, the industry is moving down the food chain and into more remote areas. Poor policies and perverse subsidies support these destructive activities.
Coastal areas are the most densely populated on Earth. Whether for permanent residents or tourists, coastal development too often means destruction of mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. Ironically, the loss of this natural infrastructure makes coasts more vulnerable to erosion and storm damage, and diminishes what attracts people to these areas in the first place.
WWF's global reach and expertise make us a leader in marine conservation.
From the Baltic to the Coral Triangle and from Brussels to Washington, DC, Jakarta and Dar es Salaam, our marine team includes more than 400 experts. We engage people from remote coastal villages and national capitals, at community meetings and in global policy debates.
We operate at the forefront of science, striving to create innovative solutions that can reverse the decline of ocean health. As part of WWF’s mission to build a future in which people and nature thrive, we are working for a well-managed ocean that is resilient, full of life and able to provide valuable goods and services for sustainable development.
The value of the ocean’s riches rivals the size of the world’s leading economies, but its resources are rapidly eroding.
Reviving the Ocean Economy: The case for action – 2015, analyses the ocean’s role as an economic powerhouse and outlines the threats that are moving it toward collapse.
But it is not too late to reverse the troubling trends and ensure a healthy ocean that benefits people, business and nature. This report presents an eight-point action plan that would restore ocean resources to their full potential.
The Great Barrier Reef is worth $5.8 billion and provides 69,000 jobs each year. Sign our petition to stop the industrial destruction of this iconic marine ecosystem.
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