Big (blue) news! From science to conservation solutions to community-led management, and even coming up with the name MERMAID, Stacy Jupiter has done it all and I’m delighted to learn from her in this new role. Congrats!! WCS WCS Ocean

Dr. Stacy Jupiter, WCS's Melanesia Regional Director, has been appointed to lead WCS Marine Conservation.

“Stacy is a globally recognized marine scientist and conservationist, with an exceptional set of transdisciplinary skills,” said Joe Walston.

bit.ly/3vfg4qw

Really proud of Dr Amelia Wenger for leading a great team to pull together these fantastic new resources for assessing and monitoring coastal pollution.

Christopher Corbin Kim Falinski Erin M Symonds

At the onset of a frightening bleaching event, we presented baselines and workplan for the #BahariNiUrithi project to support EbA in Pemba. Coral cover is high (>20%) but fish biomass is low (<300kg/ha). The good news? >70% of communities support the new MCA!
BlueActionFund

👇Meanwhile in Tanzania🇹🇿...
More info about our 💶5 million investment in WCS Ocean in Pemba tinyurl.com/WCSTZ

A major phase shift has occurred in the nearshore reefs at Coral Bay. Corals have been replaced by turf algae after hard coral cover dropped from ~70% in 2021 to ~1% in 2022. Read more about this significant local event here:
rdcu.be/dAVcE

Today at the Economist #OceanSummit , WCS and partners from all over the world are launching new guidance to help scientists, governments, and businesses assess, monitor, and manage coastal pollution.

Access the new tools, for free, here: wcs.org/ocean-pollution

In deep water and in the shallows, corals cooked by last year’s extreme heat are not doing great.
hakaimagazine.com/news/six-month… via Hakai Magazine

Coral reef conservation is climate change adaptation. Investing in coral reefs can improve equitable access to blue foods, livelihoods, and healthy coral reefs help protect communities from sea level rise and damaging storms.

Devastating pictures shared by our collaborators in the Northern Territory of mass coral bleaching. Already a lot of mortality observed. Most of these reefs are undocumented, meaning we may never know the extent of the loss 💔 FutureReefsLab #Australia #Coral pic credit A.Doheny

The Wildlife Conservation Society is seeking a full-time marine scientific advisor in Madagascar to support national marine teams in enhancing conservation decision-making across communities, NGOs, and government agencies. 🌴

Happy for our WISH Fiji/Kiwa WISH+ projects to be named a 'Free Flow Champion' - for improving river health and connectivity for migratory fish, while also tackling public health challenges. Read the interview with our team here: worldfishmigrationfoundation.com/meet-the-free-…

Going into #COP28 , Sultan Al Jaber said he was the one to bring industry to the table and get them to act. Record numbers of fossil fuel lobbyists did attend the conference, and they did act: helping to weaken the Global Stocktake text + striking 37 oil & gas deals while there.

As recognised by the world’s first ‘Global Stocktake’ and throughout #COP28 , climate finance must work to protect, conserve, and restore #nature . 🌳🌊 🪸

Read more about COP28 results and #GFCR 's engagements through the newly published article  below.

➡️globalfundcoralreefs.org/news/cop28/

It’s not over folks. The majority of countries called for stronger language than this. This is just the first text. Message your Ministers ask them to stand firm for phase out of all fossil fuels that is fair and financed. #COP28

BREAKING #COP28 : Small Island Developing States AOSIS very concerned by the current draft text: “weak langage on fossil fuels”, “completely insufficient”. “It doesn’t refer to a phase out at all.” “Any text that compromises 1.5°C will be rejected.” Minister Cedric Schuster

New in Royal Society Publishing – Evidence for managing herbivores for reef resilience – We used >20k surveys from #HIMARC Hawai‘i Monitoring and Reporting Collaborative to identify that below 80% of unfished biomass, benthic resilience is compromised

Open access: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

Thread 👇

#COP28 update 1450 GST 10 Dec

➡️Al Jaber said last night he planned to close the summit at 1100 on 12 Dec
🚦Status of key agenda items (pic) shows that's never gonna happen – still no text in some areas!
➡️Check our text tracker for the details

carbonbrief.org/interactive-tr…

At #COP15 , we delivered a successful outcome together on biodiversity.

Once again, Minister Fouad 🇪🇬 and I have been tapped as #COP28 co-facilitators of implementation this year. We’re working towards a strong outcome.

Always a pleasure to work with you, Minister.

Our next online Coral ID workshop...When: Jan 19 - 22, 2024: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm (GMT+10:00) Brisbane timezone. NOTE! This time zone is good for North America / South America / east Asia / Australia / Pacific. Info & registration details can be found at: byoguides.com/pages/workshops