Posted on October, 06 2015

By 2050, because of climate change, the world’s oceans may become too warm and acidic for coral reefs to survive. With over a quarter of all marine species calling such reefs home, and 850 million people living near reefs and depending on them for survival, such a loss could only spell catastrophe.
 
This is the grim picture painted by the Living Blue Planet Report 2015: Species, habitats, and human well-being, the recently released third product of WWF’s Sustain Our Seas Campaign, published in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international scientific, conservation, and educational organization.

The report takes off from the marine Living Planet Index (LPI) of the previous Living Planet Report 2014, and reveals a sharp decline in marine biodiversity from such threats as overfishing, coastal development, and climate change. Thus, species and communities around the world that depend on healthy ocean ecosystems are likewise under threat.
 
Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, says in the report’s foreword that the findings are “not for the faint-hearted.” “The picture is now clearer than ever: humanity is collectively mismanaging the ocean to the brink of collapse. Considering the ocean’s vital role in our economies and its essential contribution to food security—particularly for poor, coastal communities—that’s simply unacceptable.”

“It’s difficult to see what’s happening under the water, as the ocean disguises much of the impact from humans, so we have to look to the data and to the stories from people directly impacted by the loss of species and habitat to understand what’s going on,” says Jackie Thomas, Leader of WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme.  “The analysis produced by organisations such as WWF and the ZSL must be taken as very strong warnings that the situation is dire, unless we make changes.”
 
The comprehensive document presents sobering facts. The economic benefits from the ocean are estimated to be worth at least US$2.5 trillion a year—yet only 3.4% of global waters are protected, much less effectively managed.

‘Emergency’ edition

For this 2015 special report, more marine populations have been included than ever before, revealing a decline in the health of the ocean that is even more severe than previously thought. The analysis shows that nearly half the populations of mammals, fish, reptiles and birds have been lost in only 40 years, a situation so alarming that this report is actually considered an “emergency” edition.

Three-quarters of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened, according to a 2011 study by Burke et al, cited in the report. Leading scientists predict that coral reefs will disappear by 2050. With the global population expected to hit 9.6 billion that year, it is indeed a frightening prospect.

The Living Blue Planet Report doesn’t end as a doomsday statement, however. It also presents ways for governments, the private sector, and communities to preserve the ocean’s resources through prudent consumption and the prioritization of sustainability.
 
WWF’s global ocean campaign, Sustain Our Seas (SOS), engages a wide range of stakeholders, influencing top-level decision makers and reaching out to people in the grassroots in the different regions of the world.
 
This approach is particularly relevant in the rich marine region known as the Coral Triangle (CT), which covers the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.

The CT’s more than 120 million people living in coastal communities depend directly on local marine and coastal resources for income, livelihood, and food security, states a 2014 ADB study; 1.7 million tonnes of fish were exported from CT countries in 2011, worth about US$5.2 billion, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The region is also a nature-based tourism hotspot, earning an estimated US$12 billion a year for travel operators, tour guides, hotels, diving operations, and other businesses, according to a study by Pet-Soede et al.

As an example of a regional approach, the report notes how the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG) shifted its focus to regional management units (RMUs) in 2013. Instead of looking at global figures, the approach has allowed the group to determine which areas, for example, have more endangered populations of leatherback turtles—a system now being used for a more accurate assessment of other species.

“Remember that some species, like marine turtles, are transboundary and don’t recognise national borders,” says Thomas. “So regional initiatives like the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) can develop plans for conservation and sustainable management of species and habitats through joint actions, such as regional frameworks for the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM), networks of effective MPAs, and regional conservation plans for species.”

Better economics

Part of the SOS campaign goals is to make people understand the value of ocean ecosystems. Governments and their various agencies, businesses, and financial institutions have already seen that managing the ocean more sustainably means better economics.
           
The report posits that increasing MPA coverage to 30% of marine and coastal areas could mean income of between US$490 billion and US$920 billion in the next 35 years, and as many as 180,000 full-time jobs over the same period.
 
Hence, the report states, huge economic and social gains could be realized by protecting and improving the state of our oceans, and by using them sustainably in four main areas: the enhancement of food security, health, and well-being; the delivery of more secure and cost-effective public services; the building of more resilient economies and businesses; and the generation of economic growth where it is most required.

The report presents WWF’s One Planet Perspective as the most realistic path, involving three strategies: the preservation of natural capital, which “should be built into national accounting”; better production, which covers such goals as fisheries certification and moving away from fossil fuels; and wiser consumption, which highlights how consumers can influence various industries to become more responsible.
 
The CTI-CFF is cited to illustrate the redirection of financial flow, and the role of investors and donors. “To maintain the confidence of current and future investors and donors, the CTI-CFF must demonstrate achievements against its goals,” Thomas says. “This will require ongoing commitment from the six Coral Triangle governments and partners, and to build on existing collaborations and create new partnerships and investments by demonstrating the effectiveness of the CTI-CFF in achieving sustainable marine habitats, food security, and livelihoods.”
 
The report also mentions the promise of the proposed Tun Mustapha Park, almost a million hectares of protected area off Sabah, Malaysia in the Coral Triangle, as a good example of a vision for managing natural capital. “Tun Mustapha Park has every chance of working because there is a range of stakeholders engaged, particularly the local communities; because WWF and its partners have been doing the science to ensure the park has the necessary range of habitats; and because management plans are developed to not only protect the biodiversity, but to ensure that the needs of the community are factored into the planning,” says Thomas.
 
The Living Blue Planet Report is an urgent call to action, and the work in the Coral Triangle is already cut out for its stakeholders. “We only have one planet, so if we don’t remember that, then we live in ignorant bliss and carry on with unsustainable actions,” Thomas notes. “There’s only so much the planet can provide and absorb on a yearly basis. We need to take action at different scales, as individuals, through local and national measures, and regionally as well as globally.”