#marine-biodiversity

#marine-biodiversity

In this photograph, I am taking local reporters out into Ohuira Bay on Mexico's west coast, where my community's sacred sites lie. We fish shrimp and crab here, and collect snail shells to make crafts - a tradition that has been part of our Indigenous culture for generations. I'm a member of the Lázaro Cárdenas Yoreme-Mayo community and work as a fisher, but collaborate with scientists to collect marine-life samples for testing.

In June 2011, Baa Atoll in the Maldives became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve along with the likes of Komodo Island in Indonesia and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. The atoll is home to one of the largest groups of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean (it's the seventh largest in the world) and supports over 1,200 species of fish and 250 species of coral.

The first-ever treaty to protect marine diversity in international waters will come into force early next year, after it was ratified by the 60th nation, Morocco. Morocco's formal adoption of the Marine Biodiversity Treaty on Friday means the agreement will now enter into force on January 17, 2026, offering new protections to an area covering two-thirds of the world's oceans and as many as 10 million different species, many of which are still unidentified.

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The initiative is part of Okaloosa County's efforts to boost eco-tourism and marine biodiversity; the SS United States will join more than 500 artificial reefs in the area.