Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface and support the food, climate, and biodiversity systems that billions of people depend on. This archive tracks real progress in marine conservation — from expanding protected areas and restoring coral reefs to reducing plastic pollution and rebuilding fish populations. Each story focuses on what’s working and who is making it happen.
Starting in 2026, only ships powered by alternative fuels will be allowed to visit Norway’s fjords. Lawmakers want to protect the unique natural environment and stop marine diesel oil and mass tourism from damaging the climate. Some ships are now powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), but that will no longer qualify as an acceptable fuel for cruise ships visiting the fjords of Norway.
Together they cover more than 6,200 square miles, tripling the country’s marine area under protection, and are the country’s first to be co-managed by Indigenous communities.
Dominica’s new sperm whale reserve will safeguard roughly 200 whales living year-round in an 800-square-kilometer stretch of ocean off the island’s western coast — the first protected area in the world designed specifically for this species. Commercial fishing and large ships will be kept out, while local artisanal fishers can keep working the waters they’ve always known. Scientists have found that these whales pass down distinct cultural traditions across generations, a kind of learning once believed to belong only to humans. By treating whale protection as part of its own climate resilience, a small island nation is showing that nature-based conservation can be ambitious, community-minded, and quietly revolutionary all at once.
In order to meet these goals, member nations must restore a minimum of 30% of the types of habitat covered by the Nature Restoration Law that are in “poor condition” to a “good condition” by the end of the decade, with an increase to 60% by the end of the following decade and 90% by 2050.
British Columbia’s new $1 billion nature agreement aims to more than double the share of the province protected from industrial activity, building on roughly 15 percent today. Signed by Canada’s federal government, the province, and First Nations leaders, it’s the first three-way conservation deal of its kind in the country — with Indigenous nations recognized as co-architects rather than consultees. The funding will go toward safeguarding old-growth forests, restoring degraded ecosystems, and supporting the salmon-bearing watersheds that communities have relied on for generations. As nearly 200 countries work toward the global goal of protecting 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030, this framework offers a hopeful template for how conservation and Indigenous leadership can move forward together.
A decade ago, New Caledonia established its entire 502,000-square-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as a marine protected area. However, only 2.4% of the park prohibited fishing, drilling and mining. Now, the New Caledonian government has designated an additional 7.6% of its EEZ to be highly protected.
Coral reef protection just got a major boost: more than 40 nations have pledged $12 billion by 2030 to safeguard the ocean ecosystems that roughly a billion people rely on for food, income, and storm protection. It’s the largest coordinated commitment of its kind, blending public, private, and philanthropic money so the work outlasts any one government’s budget. A meaningful share is aimed at frontline communities in the Pacific, Caribbean, and East Africa, where reefs sustain daily life but conservation funding has rarely reached. Scientists have spent years developing heat-tolerant coral strains that this funding could finally scale up. For a global movement long short on resources, this pledge marks a new baseline of ambition — and a recognition that reefs are worth fighting for.
Ocean protection just took a huge leap forward: more than 76 countries and the European Union signed the High Seas Treaty on its very first day open for signatures at the U.N. General Assembly. The agreement creates the first-ever legal framework to establish protected areas across international waters, which cover two-thirds of the planet yet remain almost entirely unguarded. It also requires that benefits from marine genetic resources — think pharmaceuticals drawn from deep-sea life — be shared fairly with nations in the Global South. Once 60 countries ratify, the treaty takes effect, opening the door to meeting the global goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030 and giving marine life a fighting chance.
Seeing just two humpbacks in Puget Sound was noteworthy in the 1980s. Today, the number of humpbacks has grown by an order of magnitude from about 500 on the West Coast to more than 5,000, including about 2,000 in Washington and southern B.C. waters.
Mexico’s protected areas just grew by 13 new sites in a single 2023 announcement, lifting the country’s federally protected total to 200. The new parks and reserves stretch across six states, from tiny coastal gems in Quintana Roo that shelter the Mesoamerican Reef to sprawling national parks in Baja California Sur and Oaxaca. Since 2018, the López Obrador administration has safeguarded more than 4 million hectares of land and water, a pace the president himself hopes will rank second only to conservation icon Lázaro Cárdenas. Management plans still need to catch up to the boundaries on the map, but Mexico’s next government inherits a stronger foundation for meeting the global goal of protecting 30% of land and ocean by 2030.
