Sea Shepherd in the Galapagos
Since 2000, Sea Shepherd has maintained a strong, positive presence in the Galapagos Islands. From patroling the Marine Reserve stopping illegal fishing activities, to busting shark finners, to educating the local youth, Sea Shepherd carries out its mission of promoting ocean conservation using a wide range of methods and actions.The Galapagos is our line in the sand. If humanity cannot protect such a unique and diverse ecosystem, we will not be able to protect any ecosystem. The Galapagos is a challenge and battlefield for the effort to halt human greed and destruction. These Enchanted Isles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this means all of us have a responsibility to help protect them from illegal exploitation.
| Vital marine habitat under threat |
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| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 07:09 | |||
Now the first comprehensive assessment of the state of seagrass meadows around the world has revealed the damage that human activities have wrought on these economically and biologically essential areas. A synthesis of quantitative data from 215 sites suggests that the world has lost more than a quarter of its meadows in the past 130 years, since records began, and that the rate of that decline has grown from less than 1% per year before 1940 to 7% per year since 1990. "Seagrass loss rates are comparable to those reported for mangroves, coral reefs and tropical rainforests, and place seagrass meadows among the most threatened ecosystems on earth," write the authors of the synthesis, which is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As well as supporting unique wildlife such as green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and dugong (Dugong dugon), seagrass meadows also serve as a vital nursery for fish, supporting populations for coral reefs and commercial fisheries. They also serve to stabilize sediment and provide coastal protection, as well as trapping carbon and helping in nutrient transportation. Overall, the measured area of loss between 1879 and 2006 was 3,370 square kilometres from the total of 11,592 for which suitable records were available — a loss of 29%. Extrapolating this to a global scale suggests 51,000 square kilometres of seagrass meadows have been lost since records began. (From nature.com, by Daniel Cressey)
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While the world has focused on the destruction mankind has brought to coral reefs, the massive loss of an equally important ecosystem has been widely ignored. 
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