Today (27 January), Lord Goldsmith announced that the UK will help to protect some of the world’s most important and biodiverse marine environments in the Eastern Pacific, including key migratory routes for sea turtles, whales, sharks, and rays.
At COP26 in Glasgow, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama made headlines with their announcement that the four countries are now working together to expand and connect marine protection covering over 500,000 km2 of ocean.
The Eastern Tropical Marine Corridor stretches from the rich breeding and feeding grounds around Malpelo Island, the Cocos Ridge, and the Cordillera de Coiba seamounts, to the Galapagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
The UK will invest an initial £2m of UK Aid though the World Bank’s PROBLUE fund, and deploy marine experts to provide technical assistance through our Ocean Country Partnership Programme.
This initiative is supported by the UK’s newly established Blue Planet Fund, that will help us do even more to develop sustainable marine economies around the world, protect species found nowhere else on earth, and help coastal communities counter a range of threats – including illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and plastic pollution.
Read more:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-supports-international-efforts-to-protect-over-500000-km-of-ocean-with-2m-investment