A powerful statement from Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of #UNESCO , who highlights the importance of #bluecarbon ecosystems, and our collective need to protect and effectively manage our mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes.

#OceanDecade #OceanDecade 24

Want to get the highlights from the 2024 #OceanDecade Conference in #Barcelona ?

Earth Negotiations Bulletin is covering the full programme of the conference, providing summaries and analyses of main sessions and side events.

Get the overall and daily coverage here:
enb.iisd.org/2024-ocean-dec…

More than 500 projects have been initiated to improve knowledge & protection of the ocean since the launch of the #OceanDecade .

In Barcelona, at the #OceanDecade 2024, Audrey Azoulay welcomed these significant efforts & called for this dynamic to continue.

📰unes.co/rz3274

The 15th #MonacoBlueInitiative this week remind us of the huge advances ocean conservation has made in recent years with the 30x30 goal, Global Biodiversity Framework, High Seas Treaty. Thank you Gouvernement Monaco for the incredible investment to help us move from strength to strength!

A striking effect of COVID19 is how it revealed the fragility of ranger patrols across the world's MPAs. As tourism revenue dried up, so did budgets for patrols in many areas & much has still not recovered. Yet, rangers are critical to avoid our MPAs from being mere paper parks

The UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 World Heritage List covers 15% of the world's coral reefs by surface area, providing livelihoods for over 100 indigenous communities & generating at least USD5 billion to the GDP of the countries where they're located. Strengthen their resilience is key. UNESCO Ocean

🪸 Join the webinar, “Stepping up Investment in UNESCO World Heritage-listed Reefs,” to dive into how #GFCR & UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 support the network of World Heritage-listed #CoralReef sites and how to nominate sites to this list.
⏰ 8 February 3pm CET
Register here: bit.ly/48ybhOQ

On #WomenInMultilateralism Day and always, we work to empower women so that they can make a #PositiveChange all around the world.

Learn more: on.unesco.org/3Hu5VIM

#coralrestoration is increasingly used to support reef resilience, with hundreds of thousands of corals now being planted across the globe. But they need the right conditions to survive. Check our
UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 GreenCitizen podcast 👉 lnkd.in/eiRXngji

The UNESCO eDNA Initiative gives a snapshot of the biodiversity present in Marine #WorldHeritage Sites 🐟

Dr Fanny Douvere tells us how to obtain a clear view of biodiversity distribution through water samples.

Learn more about our eDNA initiative: on.unesco.org/3n4qZLG

Mangroves are key to the wellbeing, food security & protection of coastal communities worldwide.

Yet they are disappearing 3-5 times faster than global forest losses.

UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳's #BiosphereReserves offer a blueprint for protecting these ecosystems: on.unesco.org/3FbJus5 #COP28

Delighted with these new announcements from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs & looking forward to help implement the work to protect marine #WorldHeritage sites through the global MoU @unesco & the fund signed last year

Great to get first pre-results of our UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 #edna sampling in #Everglades National Park #WorldHeritage ! Over 150 species detected in just a couple of liters of water. Stay tuned as we expect detecting thousands of species from samples across 17 nations OBIS UNESCO Ocean

I also thanked the students participating in the UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 program to map #Everglades species by identifying traces of #eDNA in water samples. Partial results revealed 163 species, including 44 that were not previously reported for Florida Bay in the UNESCO database system.

New research using sound shows blue whales, the largest animals ever to live on our planet, are returning to Seychelles after being wiped out by whaling decades ago -- they're not just visiting but stay for months & might be breeding 🌊 SIF rb.gy/ov7wl4

So proud of our colleagues in #Palau for releasing the first climate resilience strategy for the Rock Island Southern Lagoons UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 #WorldHeritage site. A community-driven strategy with focus on both nature & people. Well done! rb.gy/wmxacm

Looking back on a great moment with our partners during #unescoGC earlier this month. When we stand together, we stand strong in fulfilling our mission to protect UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 marine #WorldHeritage for future generations. UNESCO Ocean #ForNature