SDG #14 - Life Below Water You and the Global Goals
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- Government
Dashboard map for 2022 SDG Index Goal #14 ratings. Data source: sdgindex.org
Mean area protected in marine sites important to biodiversity (%)Goals #14 & #15 are the biodiversity goals. We’re amid a crisis of enormous magnitude when it comes to mass species extinction, and we’re in a real pickle with oceans and seas, or pickle juice, to be more apt.
The 2022 SDG Index results for this Goal and first indicator, see many countries scoring red. Protected marine areas are the marine equivalent to national parks. Their existence means we get to preserve habitats of species crucial in Key Biodiversity Areas, which shelter the greatest concentrations of biodiversity. Protected marine areas allow marine life to catch its breath, a chance to regenerate from what humanity has subjected it to, crucial to the future health of life on this planet. I’ll expand more on the importance of protected areas in the following chapter, which mirrors Goal #14 except for terrestrial and freshwater life, rather than marine life. Marine protected areas include saltwater environments, whether in the seas and oceans, or in estuaries where the water is brackish, home to ecosystems of myriad species of plants, animals, and all kinds of organisms.
The title for the largest protected area in the world goes to the Marae Moana in the Cook Islands, at 2 million square km. The World Database on Protected Areas, which collates all the world’s protected areas, counted an approximate 17,781 marine protected areas at the time of writing, equal to 8% of the planet’s marine area.
Humans have a propensity to view nature through the prism of the resources it can offer us. Though since industrialisation, we're yet to account for sustainability, paying far too little attention to conserving nature. Ecosystems can offer us plentiful services, but with this comes the responsibility to act with sustainability and reverence. Extraction of natural resources can be quite ugly, and we ought to give pause to our attitudes of how we treat the environment offering its services.
If we shun such protection, we know the risks: greater ocean acidification due to oceans absorbing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We know what happens when petrochemicals or petroleum spill or leak into marine environments. Even tourism can degrade environments unless managed.
None of us can declare a legal marine protected area in an area important to biodiversity, thus our sole route is to advocate for protected areas to the government.
Summary: Contact your government representative overseeing marine protected areas in your country or region, requesting the government protect 100% of marine Key Biodiversity Areas.
Ocean Health Index: Clean Waters score (worst 0-100 best)The Clean Waters score is one component of the broader Ocean Health Index, measuring within each country’s maritime jurisdiction the level of contamination from four categories of pollution:
chemicals (oil or toxic spills from maritime vessels; agricultural pesticide/herbicide runoff)
nutrients (agricultural fertilisers)
pathog
Dashboard map for 2022 SDG Index Goal #14 ratings. Data source: sdgindex.org
Mean area protected in marine sites important to biodiversity (%)Goals #14 & #15 are the biodiversity goals. We’re amid a crisis of enormous magnitude when it comes to mass species extinction, and we’re in a real pickle with oceans and seas, or pickle juice, to be more apt.
The 2022 SDG Index results for this Goal and first indicator, see many countries scoring red. Protected marine areas are the marine equivalent to national parks. Their existence means we get to preserve habitats of species crucial in Key Biodiversity Areas, which shelter the greatest concentrations of biodiversity. Protected marine areas allow marine life to catch its breath, a chance to regenerate from what humanity has subjected it to, crucial to the future health of life on this planet. I’ll expand more on the importance of protected areas in the following chapter, which mirrors Goal #14 except for terrestrial and freshwater life, rather than marine life. Marine protected areas include saltwater environments, whether in the seas and oceans, or in estuaries where the water is brackish, home to ecosystems of myriad species of plants, animals, and all kinds of organisms.
The title for the largest protected area in the world goes to the Marae Moana in the Cook Islands, at 2 million square km. The World Database on Protected Areas, which collates all the world’s protected areas, counted an approximate 17,781 marine protected areas at the time of writing, equal to 8% of the planet’s marine area.
Humans have a propensity to view nature through the prism of the resources it can offer us. Though since industrialisation, we're yet to account for sustainability, paying far too little attention to conserving nature. Ecosystems can offer us plentiful services, but with this comes the responsibility to act with sustainability and reverence. Extraction of natural resources can be quite ugly, and we ought to give pause to our attitudes of how we treat the environment offering its services.
If we shun such protection, we know the risks: greater ocean acidification due to oceans absorbing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We know what happens when petrochemicals or petroleum spill or leak into marine environments. Even tourism can degrade environments unless managed.
None of us can declare a legal marine protected area in an area important to biodiversity, thus our sole route is to advocate for protected areas to the government.
Summary: Contact your government representative overseeing marine protected areas in your country or region, requesting the government protect 100% of marine Key Biodiversity Areas.
Ocean Health Index: Clean Waters score (worst 0-100 best)The Clean Waters score is one component of the broader Ocean Health Index, measuring within each country’s maritime jurisdiction the level of contamination from four categories of pollution:
chemicals (oil or toxic spills from maritime vessels; agricultural pesticide/herbicide runoff)
nutrients (agricultural fertilisers)
pathog