Good news from COP26: the migratory route of sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays in the Pacific will become a marine protected area.
An immense marine protected area stretching across more than 500,000 square kilometres. A corridor closed to fishing precisely along the migratory route of sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays. It is called the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (Eastern tropical pacific marine corridor) and was jointly announced on Tuesday 2 November by the governments of Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica.
At COP26 in Glasgow, Ecuador's president Guillermo Lasso had been the first to pledge to expand the Galápagos Marine Reserve by 60,000 sq km — a reserve that already covers 133,000 sq km and is the habitat of various endangered species, such as the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) and the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini). He was followed by Colombia's president Ivan Duque Márquez, who committed to increasing the country's marine protected areas from 160,000 to 280,000 sq km.
The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor brings these initiatives together into a coherent system and seeks to save from uncontrolled and excessive fishing an ecosystem of inestimable value. In doing so, it marks an important step towards the aspiration of protecting 30 per cent of the planet by 2030. A target championed by scientists but one that still appears very distant, given that only 7 per cent of the world's oceans are currently protected.
"During this COP, one of the key discussions has been about trust, the ability to get things done. Around here there are signs everywhere saying: 'No more blah blah blah, act now'. In this case, these four countries of Latin America, of the tropics, have decided to act now and take a first step to show that protecting the oceans is possible," said Costa Rica's president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada. "With this declaration, the four of us declare our willingness to establish one of the largest, if not the largest, marine protected area in the tropical Pacific."
Among the protagonists of this project is Colombia, which, just a few hours earlier, had issued another announcement of the first importance. "Today we acknowledge one thing: if we truly want to reduce emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality, we must introduce the concept of 'nature positive' into our minds and our hearts," declared president Ivan Duque Márquez.
"We will not wait until 2030 to designate 30 per cent of our territory as a protected area. We will achieve this goal in 2022," he continued. Around half of Colombia's land area is covered by tropical forests: safeguarding them means making an investment in the future of the climate but also in the livelihoods of the population, given that they provide hydroelectric energy and 70 per cent of the available fresh water.
