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Former Local Fisherman Turned Conservationist Named Champion of Saint Barthélemy Hope Spot

Header image: Didier and his team worked to replant endemic plants along the beach following the destruction of Hurricane Irma (c) Didier Laplace
BARTHÉLEMY, CARIBBEAN

After experiencing a near-death accident on a fishing boat in 2011, Didier Laplace, Saint Barthélemy native, turned away from his former life as a commercial fisherman to become an ecologist with a newfound yet steadfast dedication to protecting the ocean. Upon his recovery, he realized that in just a relatively short amount of time the underwater world of his childhood had been degraded, and was in need of help. Through 2013, he visited marine biology universities, labs and island preservation sites to learn everything he could about reef and habitat preservation. From there, he created the association Coral Restoration Saint Barth (CRSB) in 2014.…

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The First Scientific Expedition to Panama’s Unexplored Cordillera de Coiba Hope Spot Sets Sail

Scientists, students and communicators from Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Spain will spend twelve days on the high seas exploring the biodiversity of Panama’s Cordillera de Coiba seamounts. 
Panama, April 27th, 2022

Last year, Panama expanded the Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area from 17,223.52 km2 to 67,908.98 km2 in a move that brought the country to meet its 30×30 conservation goals. Now, an international scientific expedition made up of researchers and students from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), MigraMar, the International Maritime University of Panama (UMIP), the University of Costa Rica and the Ministry of the Environment will set sail on the first mission to explore the seamounts of this protected area. 
 
 
The scientists will conduct daily dives to depths of up to 450 meters, using a manned submarine, and deploy baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) several times a day to document the important biodiversity inhabiting the seamounts in the Cordillera de Coiba, located over 60 miles south of the Coiba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.…

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Beauty Brand Continues Legacy of Supporting Environmental Charities with New Ethique Foundation and Fellowship Initiative; Commits Further $10m in Funding

In celebration of our new partnership, Mission Blue supporters can use the code MISSIONBLUE at checkout for 20% off their order through 12/31/2022.

Global regenerative beauty brand Ethique has today launched the Ethique Foundation, a charitable trust to support organizations and individuals addressing environmental and social issues.
Mission Blue and Eden Reforestation Projects are lead partners for the inaugural year. Both organizations focus on protecting and preserving fragile ecosystems in oceans and forests respectively.
Led by legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue works to create global awareness, access, and action for marine protected areas, as well as undertaking regular oceanic expeditions to research these fragile and vital ecosystems. Funding from the Foundation will strengthen Mission Blue’s efforts to remove plastic waste from our oceans.  …

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Mission Blue Launches Partnership with Iron Horse Vineyards, featuring 2018 Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine

Mission Blue is thrilled to announce a partnership with Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol, California with their 2018 Ocean Reserve, a vintage Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine. The 2018 Ocean Reserve is a special, limited edition production. This is a giving wine and a portion of the sales of this Ocean Reserve will support Mission Blue’s ongoing efforts to safeguard the blue heart of the planet. 
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, says, “I want to thank Iron Horse Vineyards for their support of Mission Blue and our goal of increasing protection for the ocean. All of us need water; the fabric of our lives. All of us need a planet that works, and all of us have the power to do something about it.…

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New Hope Spot Champions of the Sargasso Sea to Conduct First Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis of a High Seas System

Featured image: Philippe Rouja free diving under Sargassum in Challenger Banks, Bermuda (c) David Doubilet
SARGASSO SEA, NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 11th, 2022)

Often referred to as “the floating golden rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean”, the Sargasso Sea covers an impressive two million square miles of water. It has no land boundaries: rather, the area of the Sargasso Sea is defined by the whirling grasp of major currents within the North Atlantic Gyre. Vast mats of sun-soaked, free-floating yellow Sargassum seaweed bob at the surface under distinctively calm air. 
 
 
The Sargasso Sea is a high seas ecosystem – it lies outside of the boundaries of any country. The high seas make up more than 60% of the ocean and while they possess deeply important biological diversity, they remain some of the least protected places on the planet.…

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Inhambane Seascape in Mozambique Recognized as Mission Blue Hope Spot

Featured image: © Andrea Marshall

The coastline of the Inhambane Province in southern Mozambique is well-known around the world for its thriving biodiversity. The area is rated by the IUCN as a Globally Outstanding marine conservation area and acknowledged as a potential world heritage site by UNESCO. It is a wild and expansive area that holds immense ecological value, extraordinary beauty and incalculable natural heritage. For Dr. Andrea Marshall, local conservation biologist and co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), it is her life mission to see the coastline comprehensively protected.
 
 
Mission Blue has declared the Inhambane Seascape a Hope Spot in recognition of the spatial planning work being done in the area to develop a network of marine protected areas in the surrounding waters.…

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Mission Blue Welcomes Dona Bertarelli to its Board of Directors

(Image © Julius Schlosburg)
Led by legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue unites a global coalition to inspire support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas – Hope Spots, with the goal of reaching at least 30% ocean protection by 2030. Today, we are delighted to welcome philanthropist, ocean advocate and sportswoman, Dona Bertarelli to our board of directors and to the Mission Blue family.
Ms. Bertarelli is a world-renowned expert in ocean conservation who has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to ocean stewardship from a variety of perspectives. She is co-chair of the Bertarelli Foundation, and joined forces with the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2017, continuing their long-term collaboration and forming a new partnership, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project, to advance ocean protection, perfectly aligning with the goals of Mission Blue. …

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Costa Rica Adds Nearly 53,000 sq km of Protected Waters to the Cocos Island National Park

On Friday, December 17th, 2021, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica, and Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy, signed a decree expanding the Cocos Island National Park, which lies at the heart of the Cocos Island Hope Spot. This move adds approximately 53,000 sq km (21,235 sq miles) of fully protected waters to Costa Rica’s territory in the Pacific Ocean, making the total size approximately 55,000 sq km. 
 
 
This area of the Eastern Tropical Pacific hosts myriad endangered or threatened marine species like the scalloped hammerhead, which, like many other animals, uses the waters between Cocos Island and the Galápagos Islands as a migratory “swimway.” Marine animals, much like terrestrial animals, do not stay in one place.…

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Hope in the Conflict Islands

Photo: Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative
By Hayley Versace, General Manager, Conflict Islands Resort and Conflict Islands Hope Spot Champion

The Conflict Islands are one of just two Hope Spots in Papua New Guinea. The Conflict Islands are a privately owned atoll 22 kms by 14 kms wide in the center of a richly biodiverse marine ecosystem. This atoll is connected to several other Hope Spots in the region through the many migratory species that mate, raise their young and feed in these waters.
 
 
The conservation work by Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative (CICI), an Australian not-for-profit, has evolved thanks to our growing network of partners and supporters from all over the world, stemming from the support we have had from Mission Blue and Dr.…

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Laamafaru Festival 2021 Celebrates Ocean Conservation at Laamu Atoll Hope Spot

By Leanna Crowley, Marketing Communications Manager, Six Senses Laamu Resort

Since 2016, the Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) by Six Senses Laamu has organized a community festival in Laamu Atoll with the aim of raising awareness of and increasing protection for sea turtles. The Laamu Turtle Festival brought people from across the atoll together to pledge ‘Turtles in Laamu – Safe and Protected’. In 2019, MUI recognized the growing need to raise awareness about the conservation of entire marine ecosystems and the services they provide, in order to safeguard the Maldives from the negative effects of climate change or unsustainable practices. That is why, in 2019, the resort and local stakeholders in Laamu Atoll voted to broaden the scope of the 4th annual festival to Laamafaru Festival, or ‘Laamu’s Reefs Festival’ in Dhivehi, under the theme ‘Our Ocean – Safe and Protected’.…

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