UNESCO seeks to protect natural wonders in the high seas: KSLOF

UNESCO seeks to protect natural wonders in the high seas

[2016]

This article in DW.com highlights how UNESCO is proposing adding sites in the high seas to the World Heritage List, a campaign sponsored by Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. These natural wonders are in international waters. Heritage status could help protect them against pollution and overfishing.

This article in DW.com highlights how UNESCO is proposing adding sites in the high seas to the World Heritage List, a campaign sponsored by Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. These natural wonders are in international waters. Heritage status could help protect them against pollution and overfishing.

UNESCO seeks to protect natural wonders in the high seas

DW.com
August 8, 2016
By Brigette Osterath

While I was struggling to finish my scuba diving training, I came across a statement on the internet: “Scuba diving is like entering a different planet.” That settled it for me: I never thought about dropping out of my diving course ever again – and finally got my certificate.

Sometimes, the internet is indeed right, I found out later.

Many people might think there is nothing down there in the oceans but rocks, darkness and a lot of water. In fact you find a whole new world, full of life – stretching as far as the eye can reach.

Most of these unique places, though, cannot be protected, because they belong to what is known as the “high seas”.

“Half of our planet is beyond national jurisdiction,” Fanny Douvere, coordinator of the World Heritage Marine Programme, told DW. “It’s ocean, and belongs to nobody. So it is very much the wild west: Everybody can go there and extract resources.”…

From Mangrove Mud to Meaningful Work: Desta’s J.A.M.I.N. Journey

Some students I remember for their grades, their quick answers, or a moment that made the whole class laugh. Others I remember for the way they stepped into the mangroves.

Desta was the kind of student who thrived outdoors. While some students hesitated at the edge of the mud, he walked right in. And when he inevitably got stuck — because everyone does — he didn’t get frustrated. He laughed. Covered in mud, holding mangrove propagules in his hands, he embraced the experience fully.

Even then, it was clear that he was connecting with the environment in a way that went beyond the lesson plan…

From Students to Stewards: A Full-Circle Moment for J.A.M.I.N.

There are certain faces you never forget.

Over the years, hundreds of students have stepped into mangrove forests with us through the Jamaica Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) program. I may not always remember every name, but I remember the expressions — the hesitation before stepping into thick mud, the laughter when someone loses a shoe, the look of surprise when they catch that unmistakable sulfur smell rising from the mangrove soil…

UNESCO seeks to protect natural wonders in the high seas

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From Mangrove Mud to Meaningful Work: Desta’s J.A.M.I.N. Journey

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