“Action is the antidote to despair,” says international expert and advocate for marine protection

Callum Roberts is Professor of Marine Conservation in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter. He recently chaired the Bertarelli Foundation’s marine science seminar, The Role of Science for Marine Protected Areas. Here, he describes his work with Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and how they are a rising force for hope in ocean conservation.

You and your team designed a network of MPAs in the North Atlantic that were established in 2010. What did you consider when you were developing the design?

Our research underpinned the creation of four huge MPAs in the North Atlantic, covering half a million square kilometres – the first network of MPAs to be established in the international waters of the high seas.

In recommending sites for protection, we were particularly keen to ensure that the richest and most vulnerable ecosystems were included, and that the network represented the range of biodiversity found in open ocean and the seabed habitats of the region.

Some MPAs, like the ones your team designed, have been in existance for several years now. What benefits have they brought to marine life?

Most of the area covered by these MPAs is protected from fishing and hunting – activities which have had the most significant impacts on the region to date – so this is a big win for conservation.

But other threats remain, like deep sea mining. The International Seabed Authority does not consider these protected areas to be off limits to mining and has already licensed exploration around seamounts (underwater mountains) and hydrothermal vents in other parts of the mid-Atlantic.

What are the benefits of expanding MPAs?

For the last 16 years, the international community has pursued a target of protecting 10% of the ocean by 2020. Unfortunately, not enough of this space has been given enough protection to make a real difference to the marine life living there.

We know that species and habitats rebound quickly and thrive given high levels of protection from extractive use. The ‘light’ protection afforded to most MPAs is not enough to deliver such recoveries. If we match efforts to expand protected areas with increases in protection level, we could make a huge difference to the health of the ocean.

How realistic is it to meet the ‘30by30’ commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030?

 Momentum has really picked up in the creation of marine protected areas and the coverage curve is bending upwards as efforts accelerate. If we keep up these efforts, there is every reason to think that 30% MPA coverage is achievable by 2030. Some countries are there already, like the Seychelles, Palau, Chile and the UK, with many more having committed to reach the target.

What are the main barriers to overcome to reach this target?

It would make a huge difference if 30by30 were to become the official policy of the Convention on Biological Diversity at its Conference of Parties next year. There are political differences to overcome first, and lower income countries, where much of the richest biodiversity is located, will need cast iron commitments of financial help from richer nations to convince them to back the target.

What gives you cause to be an ‘ocean optimist’?

Most of the great whales are making huge strides towards recovery since the global whaling moratorium in 1984. Losses of mangrove forests have slowed to a trickle in many countries as their natural values – coastal protection, support for fisheries and carbon capture and storage – are better appreciated.  Creating national networks of MPAs has been standard government policy almost everywhere since the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

I think that pessimism is a significant obstacle to progress because the hopelessness it engenders can become self-fulfilling. Action is the antidote to despair!

“It’s time we became more inclusive for the sake of our the oceans,” says marine conservation pioneer 

Dr. Asha de Vos is the founder and Executive Director of Oceanswell. She recently chaired the Bertarelli Marine Science Programme seminar, Ocean Optimism: Solutions for a Threatened Ocean. Here, she describes how her work ties into that topic.  

Could you explain why you founded Oceanswell and what the organisation does? 

Oceanswell is the first marine conservation research and education organisation in Sri Lanka. The fact that it was only established in 2017 should tell you a lot about my island home’s conservation priorities. The unfortunate truth is that in places like Sri Lanka, the ocean has long been seen as a space for extraction rather than a place needing protection.  

To save our oceans, every coastline needs a local hero. Oceanswell aims to nurture this next generation of diverse ocean heroes. We do this by equipping individuals from under-represented nations to conduct marine conservation research. 

What do you think is the greatest barrier to effective marine conservation? 

Colonial or ‘parachute’ science is when researchers from the developed world come to countries like mine and do work that is driven by their own assumptions, motives, and personal needs – often without investing in the country’s people or its infrastructure. This is problematic because it cripples local conservation efforts and creates a dependency on external expertise. Essentially this model is not sustainable.  

The most important and meaningful collaborations for me have been those with researchers who acknowledged that working outside their home space is a privilege, not a right. A handful of people from the global North cannot save our oceans, it will take an army of people from around the world. It’s time we became more inclusive for the sake of our oceans.  

Why is the seminar topic of ‘Solutions for a Threatened Ocean’ so important? 

Most of the news we hear about our planet is shrouded in doom and gloom. Our systems are collapsing, our species are going extinct and at the core of it all, we are spelling sowing the seeds of our own demise. It focusses on how we have failed, and how we continue to fail. 

This messaging is incredibly destructive. If we give people nothing to hope for, then we cannot expect them to join us in our efforts to drive change. There is plenty to give us optimism. And the more we bring these conversations to the fore, the more people will grow in hope and potentially even join in and contribute! 

Where have you seen the most progress in tackling threats to the oceans? 

One thing that has started to change is the sharing of knowledge around our oceans. For too long, the academic narrative has dominated. Little of the work and the wonder of it was accessible to the general public. This means that people often saw the ocean as an infinite space of extraction and dumping rather than as part of their own home. A shift in narrative is important if we are to protect our oceans.  

The other obvious area of progress is in the use of technology and innovation. A space to watch is the development of cost-effective tools that can go where humans cannot and can bring back data to help scientists guide decision-makers do what is necessary and right. 

What gives you cause to be an ‘ocean optimist’?  

My name, Asha, means ‘Hope’ in Sanskrit. So, I guess I was born with a lot of hope in my heart. But jokes aside, in my lifetime I have seen changes that give me a reason to stay optimistic.  

When I was growing up and I would tell Sri Lankans that I wanted to be a marine biologist, most responded by saying that there was no scope for such a career in our country. Many questioned the sense of embarking on a degree that would be – in their view – useless. Today, there are more Sri Lankan students than ever before wanting to work in the field and doing degrees in marine biology. If that doesn’t make one optimistic, I don’t know what will.