Post by OceanCare

🌊 This week, OceanCare is at the United Nations in New York for the 26th session of the 𝗨𝗡 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮 (#ICP26), focused on “Marine Ecosystem Restoration”. Marine biologist Dr. Rebecca Helm from Georgetown University and Scientific Expert for OceanCare, as well as Matthew Carvalho from Sunway University and Georgetown University are representing us on the ground. 🙌 👉 This process matters: it brings scientific and technical recommendations to the attention of the UN General Assembly and can shape international ocean governance. Our message is clear: restoration of marine ecosystems cannot succeed if degradation continues faster than recovery. ⚠️ It must be grounded in a protection-first principle and guided by the precautionary principle, which is too often overlooked. Nature itself is the most effective agent of restoration, provided that the root causes driving degradation are prevented, reduced and ultimately brought to an end. Restoration cannot be achieved while bottom trawling continues undetected, plastic pollution enters the ocean unabated, greenhouse gas emissions remain on their current trajectory, underwater noise pollutes vast ocean areas, and new industrial pressures threaten vulnerable marine ecosystems. 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼: 🔹 Strengthen Marine Protected Areas and Area-Based Management Tools 🔹 Implement the BBNJ Agreement as a historic opportunity for the High Seas 🔹 Reorient fisheries management toward ecosystem recovery 🔹 Accelerate decarbonisation and ocean-climate action 🔹 Support a strong Global Plastics Treaty covering the full lifecycle of plastics Marine Ecosystem Restoration is not only about repairing past damage. It is about making the science-driven political choices necessary today to secure a healthy, resilient and thriving ocean. 🐋 🌊 #MarineConservation #Restoration #MarineEcosystems #UNCLOS