By Avrah Sellar, Mission Blue

Today, January 14th, 2022, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, signed an official decree enhancing the marine protected area (MPA) around the Galápagos Archipelago in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean. The decree will expand protections by 60,000 square kilometers (23,166 square miles); half of which will be fully protected where no extractive activities are allowed. The new protected area known as La Hermandad, “the sisterhood,” will extend to the maritime border of Costa Rica offering an opportunity for multi-national cooperation to manage marine life like sharks, sea turtles and whales which migrate across countries waters.
 
 
Present at the ceremony was Dr. Sylvia Earle and Max Bello, Global Ocean Policy Advisor for Mission Blue, who attended at the invitation of the President.…