The government of Belize in the eastern coast of Central America has recently passed legislation banning offshore oil and gas activities in territorial waters, in a bid to protect its barrier reef, currently the largest in the western hemisphere.
DETECT-IT, a new data analytics tool, is intended to help businesses, NGOs and customs, law enforcement and fisheries officials quickly search through fish trade data to identify potential illegally caught and traded fish products around the world.
States meeting at the United Nations in New York on 21 July took an important step towards launching negotiations for a new treaty to protect the biodiversity of the high seas (areas beyond the national jurisdiction), High Seas Alliance informed.
Following an appeal from Canadian government, indigenous participants, as well as testimony from WWF-Canada, IMO has agreed to take steps to minimize the use of heavy fuel oil in Arctic shipping, during a week-long meeting in London.
A new WWF-Canada guide, aiming to help mariners in the Hudson Strait to identify and avoid marine mammals, is being unveiled at a Canadian Coast Guard and Transport Canada meeting in Montreal. The Hudson Strait Mariner’s Guide is made up of two large posters to be hung on the ship’s bridge: a chart that will help mariners identify mammals and maps of marine mammal habitat in both summer and winter.
WWF issued its Arctic Council Conservation Scorecard, the first-ever assessment of national and joint implementation of Arctic Council commitments related to biodiversity and conservation. The scorecard corresponds to the long-year efforts of Arctic states to pursue conservation regarding safeguard efforts of the Arctic environment, through the Arctic Council.
WWF-Canada reported that major weaknesses in response preparedness mean remote Arctic communities face an almost certain environmental catastrophe in the event of an Arctic shipping oil spill. Heavy fuel oil is the standard marine fuel for large ships and also one of the world’s most polluting fuels, and the most difficult to clean up.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have recently announced a five-year global partnership to help ensure the long-term health of the oceans. The partners will set measurable and achievable sustainability targets that will reduce Royal Caribbean’s environmental footprint, raise awareness about ocean conservation among the company’s more than five million guests, and support WWF’s global oceans conservation work.
Leading cruise lines announced partnerships with ocean conservation non profits to improve and sustain world’s oceans and seas. Carnival Corporation will host the Nature Conservancy’s Mapping Ocean Wealth Annual Meeting Being at Miami and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. together with WWF announced their five-year partnership setting ambitious and measurable goals to reduce company’s environmental footprint.
The announcement by the government that its proposed framework for marine protected areas will only cover the Territorial Sea and not the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was labelled ‘hugely disappointing’ by global conservation organisation WWF.
