Global and local ocean conservation this summer

Does it feel like the plight of our oceans is finally getting the platform and airtime it deserves? From David Attenborough’s tour de force, which has simultaneously haunted and uplifted people across the globe, to the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC)in Nice earlier this summer (9th – 13th June), which opened with a warning from UN Secretary General António Guterres; ‘the deep sea cannot become the Wild West’ in reference to  President Trump’s decision in April to issue permits for the mining of minerals in international waters. 

But on reflection, do these big global moments really make a difference, in reality? UNOC 2025 saw the usual fanfare, publicity, promises and there was some progress. Despite failure of the host country to safeguard their marine protected areas from trawling, France did at least ratify the High Seas Treaty, which is more that can be said of Kier Starmer’s team – bringing the total number of ratifications to 50 – ten short of the crucial 60 needed to bring the Treaty into force.  

While we wait for our various heads of state to get their biros working, in the background, on the ground, day in, day out, small local actors plug away, doing the real heavy lifting and highlighting why all this matters so much. They often don’t get the eureka moments, and they certainly face firsthand the realities of our changing climate and biodiversity collapse, but they do persist…and sometimes, they do get some good news.  

Two announcements at UNOC were made possible thanks to the legwork required behind the scenes to make real change happen.  

The Greek prime minister announced targeted efforts to restore marine biodiversity by designating 10% of territorial waters as no-take zones, highlighting local initiative Amorgorama. This grassroots movement, initiated by local fishers in 2019, sees them exchange fishing for marine and coastal rubbish collection during the key spawning months of April and May each year. At the UNOC announcement, Kyriakos Mitsotakis shared this video by the Revive Our Ocean collective, featuring Conservation Collective (CC) affiliate, and key Amorgorama partner, Cyclades Preservation Fund. 

In Spain, a new MPA proposed by the Spanish government to protect the nursery and feeding grounds of sperm whales was informed by years of data collection and funding by local groups, including CC Foundations, in the Balearics. Without the local knowledge combined with detailed, rigorous research and input, these big announcements at global conferences just wouldn’t be possible. To learn more about this vital work, please see the video here. 

Also in the Mediterranean this summer, Cyclades Preservation Fund (CPF) has pulled together an impressive alliance of local actors to foster protection, action and recognition of Posidonia Oceanica as a foundational ecosystem in Greece. The Greek Islands Seagrass Alliance, including CC foundations Ionian Environment Foundation and Argosaronic Environment Foundation, will work to save this keystone species, which is capable of absorbing 15 times more carbon dioxide every year than a similar sized piece of the Amazon rainforest. Having engaged with residents, boat owners, schools and local authorities, CPF are now working with easyJet holidays to bring Posidonia knowledge into the mainstream, recognising that meaningful change cannot happen in echo chambers. 

The Isla del Aire Marine Reserve, championed and supported by CC foundation Menorca Preservation since inception, released the results of a study this summer revealing conclusively the benefits of marine protected areas for reversing biodiversity collapse. Since 2019, when Isla del Aire was established, there has been a 96% increase in fish abundance and 161% increase in fish biomass in the areas under maximum protection. This news was a triumph for Menorca and a highly deserved reward after years of marine research to support this Reserve.  

Further afield, but also in the CC network, there has been some good news from the Caribbean, where Barrouallie whalers have volunteered to stop killing orcas after ten years of local awareness raising, promotion of alternative livelihoods and considered engagement with the whaling community by St. Vincent and the Grenadines Environment Fund. 

Back to the Attenborough tour de force. If it caught your attention, you should definitely listen a recent episode of Rewilding the World podcast featuring Enric Sala, executive producer and scientific advisor for Ocean, interviewed by CC founder Ben Goldsmith. What follows is a captivating account by the man who has been at the forefront of global ocean conservation for decades. Enric mentions the only ‘no take zone’ in Scotland, in Lamlash Bay, South Arran, where lobster populations have quadrupled and king scallops have increased sixfold thanks decades of work by local divers Don MacNeish and Howard Wood, supported in part by CC’s Highlands and Island Environment Foundation. Breathtaking footage of thriving biodiversity in the no take zone of South Arran Marine Protected Area can be seen in Attenborough’s film and provides some of the most memorable sections of the film.  

At Conservation Collective we will continue to champion and support local heroes like Don, Howard, and the fishers of Amorgos, who are battling in the places they love, all around the world, to save our seas and oceans. We will continue to give small, targeted grants to groups and people who know and care deeply about the ocean and are working tirelessly, often behind the scenes to protect and restore it. And we will continue to stand resolutely on the side of optimism!