{"id":5070,"date":"2020-05-05T15:10:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T14:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=5070"},"modified":"2020-05-05T15:10:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T14:10:54","slug":"the-ocean-foundation-discusses-why-we-need-to-protect-our-oceans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/the-ocean-foundation-discusses-why-we-need-to-protect-our-oceans\/5070\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ocean Foundation discusses why we need to protect our oceans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Innovation Platform<\/a><\/em> speaks to The Ocean Foundation<\/a> President Mark Spalding about why we need to protect our oceans.<\/h2>\n

The Ocean Foundation (TOF) responds to the growing needs and urgent issues relating to ocean conservation, as well as strengthens the knowledge and expertise of the ocean community as a whole.<\/p>\n

What needs to be done in order to undo\/reverse the worldwide destruction of ocean environments?<\/h3>\n

Simply stated, we take too much good stuff out of the ocean and we put too much bad stuff in. And, all we have to do now is stop. A fairly common list of human threats to the ocean include climate change and ocean acidification (both from carbon emissions), overfishing and unregulated fishing, excessive nutrient loading, chemical runoff, depletion of ocean resources, coastal over-development, seismic and acoustic pollution, as well as plastics and marine debris.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s coasts and ocean are a valuable and delicate part of our natural capital, but the \u201ctake it all now, forget about the future\u201d business-as-usual model of the current economy is threatening not only marine ecosystems and coastal communities, but the functions of our planet on which all life depends. The ocean is not too big to fix, and we cannot afford to let it fail. The planet will be here even if the ocean is hot, breathless, and acidic. However, such a place will not be our blue planet.<\/p>\n

Abundance and biomass should be the focus of revitalisation efforts in order to keep up with population growth and to support the economy as well. This is not about choosing conservation protections versus the economy. Conservation, protection, enforcement, and preservation are good, they work, and they support economic activity. Despite this however, we cannot just maintain where we are in the face of increasing demands with rapidly changing conditions. We cannot call it conservation if we continue to allow nutrients and other pollutants to flow unchecked into waterways. Abundance has to be our goal for food security and healthy ecosystems. This will allow us to get ahead of population growth and the ever-increasing demands on all resources. Our priority has to change from \u201chold the line\u201d to \u201crestore abundance\u201d and should engage all interested parties who want to work for a healthy and profitable future.<\/p>\n

What is the work and role of TOF?<\/h3>\n

We are at a critical point in time for the future of life on earth, and we must protect the ocean because it is our life support system and it is in danger. Therefore, our mission is to support, strengthen, and promote those organisations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world. We directly manage and promote conservation work in the following areas: conserving marine habitats and special places, protecting species of concern, building the capacity of the marine conservation community, and expanding ocean literacy and public awareness.<\/p>\n

TOF is a California registered, IRC \u00a7501(c)(3) not-for-profit international community foundation. TOF operates using a well-established business model(the community foundation)to serve its donors and partners in the marine community. As the only community foundation dedicated to the ocean, we provide philanthropic advice for all donors who care about the health of our ocean and coasts. Our vision is to be an organisation that:<\/p>\n