The Oceans Need Real Action for 30×30 to Succeed
In comments submitted to the Department of the Interior, PEER is calling on the administration to go bold on protecting our oceans.
From overfishing and pollution to climate change, our oceans are under threat like never before. A global community of scientists, activists, and political leaders now agree that the only way to halt this destruction is to conserve large swaths of the ocean.
That is why PEER is supporting a general movement called 30×30, a global effort to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and water by 2030. The Biden administration has endorsed this effort and launched a program called America the Beautiful to meet these goals.
However, to date, the administration is building its program to protect our oceans based on faulty assumptions. In comments submitted to Interior on an atlas the administration will use to measure the progress toward the 30×30 goals, we point out that the overwhelming majority of U.S. marine waters currently classified as protected are in the remote Pacific, while most of America’s coastal, bay, and estuary waters are in poor and declining condition. In addition, the marine inventory currently used by the administration includes land areas and sanctuaries set aside to preserve shipwrecks, not biodiversity, and includes areas under administrative restrictions that could be undone in a future administration.
The evidence is clear: our oceans are in crisis. Now all we need is the political will to protect them. We are determined to help make that happen.
Take a look at our comments and our six recommendations for assembling the conservation atlas for America’s waters here. We will be posting our comments on the land portion of the atlas soon. Let us know what you think.
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