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UNESCO World Heritage Site Fernando de Noronha Archipelago Joins Mission Blue Hope Spot Network

[FERNANDO DE NORONHA, BRAZIL] – The Fernando de Noronha Archipelago rises from the Atlantic waters off the northeastern coast of Brazil as a chain of 21 volcanic islands. World-renowned for its crystal-clear waters, abundant marine life, and breathtaking landscapes, the inhabited main island of Fernando de Noronha has become one of Brazil’s most sought-after tourism destinations.
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue is proud to announce the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago as our newest Hope Spot. Fabio Borges, President of Instituto Vida no Oceano and Projeto Tubarões e Raias de Noronha, and Rafaely Ventura, Project Coordinator at Projeto Tamar, are recognized as the Hope Spot Champions.

“Fernando de Noronha is one of the most extraordinary environments in that tropical Atlantic. Its translucent waters and abundant marine life make it a true sanctuary of biodiversity.…

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Abrolhos Hope Spot New Champion Designation Highlights Brazil’s Marine Biodiversity

[ABROLHOS, BRAZIL] – International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue is proud to announce new Champions for our Abrolhos Hope Spot. Danieli Marinho Nobre, Senior Conservation Analyst at WWF-Brazil, and Guilherme Fraga Dutra, Executive Secretary of Abrolhos Forever (Abrolhos para Sempre), have been at the forefront of safeguarding this globally significant marine area, working together to catalyze Abrolhos Forever, a conservation collective to protect the region.
“I’m delighted to share wonderful news about one of the most extraordinary places in the ocean, Abrolhos, a Hope Spot that truly lives up to its name,” said Dr. Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue. “That’s why the creation of the Abrolhos Forever Coalition makes such a vital step in terms of making a difference. The Hope Spot Champions, along with the coalition, are working to catalyze action to build partnerships and of course to ensure that the Abrolhos continues to thrive as a beacon of hope.”…

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Hope Spot Champion Grantee Highlight: Conserving Coral and Building Community in the Conflict Islands Hope Spot

Header Image: The Conflict Islands. Credit – Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative (CICI).
A tiny and remote atoll off Papua New Guinea holds an extraordinary secret: it is home to more than 400 species of coral. The Conflict Group of Islands, named after the HMS Conflict whose crew first identified them on British navigation charts in the late 19th century, are a chain of 21 privately owned islands in Papua New Guinea. Together, the islands form an atoll, a ring of coral marking the location where a volcanic island once rose out of the waves. Long since eroded and dormant, all that is left of the volcano is a ring of pristine beaches and a central lagoon bursting with incredible marine biodiversity.…

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New Marine Park Designation for Western Australia’s Great Southern Reef and Salisbury Island Hope Spots

Cover image © Stefan Andrews
Western Australia, November 5, 2024 – After over 30 years of advocacy and three years of consultation, the South Coast Marine Park is now a reality. Spanning 1,000 kilometers of Western Australia’s southern coastline, the new marine park encompasses two Mission Blue Hope Spots.
Australia’s Great Southern Reef, a vast network of interconnected marine ecosystems, is home to thousands of unique marine species, including marine mammals, sharks, kelp forests and many invertebrates. This is the first sanctuary protection for the ecologically rich environment of the southern coastline of Western Australia.
The new protected area includes four interconnected marine parks—Mamang Maambakoort, Wudjari, Western Bight, and Mirning—jointly managed with Traditional Owners. This co-management model ensures conservation efforts respect both traditional knowledge and modern science, and honor the deep cultural environmental ties of Indigenous communities to these waters.…

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Mission Blue’s Hope Spot Champions Propel Marine Protected Areas Day into a Worldwide Ocean Conservation Movement

Cover image © Two Oceans Aquarium

MPA Day, held annually on the 1st August, was created in 2021 to help celebrate the importance of MPAs for both people and nature. It was designed as a day to share stories and information about the importance of conserving the ocean. The campaign was initially organized by the Two Oceans Aquarium, co-Champions (along with Cape RADD) of the False Bay Hope Spot in South Africa, with ambitions to take the awareness campaign global. 
This year Mission Blue helped to make this wish a reality by taking the campaign truly global for the first time. With 15 Hope Spots spanning from the chilly shores of Northeast Iceland to the tropical waters of Nusa Penida in Indonesia getting involved.…

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Brazil’s Award-Winning Alcatrazes Archipelago Joins Hope Spot Network

Featured image: Leo Francini
(SÃO PAOLO, BRAZIL) –
 Just off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil, a small grouping of rocky islands teem with life above and below the ocean’s surface. The Alcatrazes Archipelago and their surrounding waters are home to coral reef environments over rocky shores, and contain two no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) that safeguard over 1,300 marine and terrestrial species, 20 of which are endemic.
International marine conservation nonprofit Mission Blue is pleased to announce the Alcatrazes Archipelago as a Hope Spot. Dr. Vinicius José Giglio, Professor at Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará (UFOPA), and Dr. Ronaldo Bastos Francini-Filho, Professor and Researcher at Center for Marine Biology at the Universidade de São Paulo are recognized as the Hope Spot Champions. …

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Inspiration and Hope in Mozambique

In October 2023, Mission Blue was on the ground (and in the water!) at the Inhambane Seascape Hope Spot. Established as a Hope Spot in 2022, the Inhambane Seascape lies along the southern coast of Mozambique. This region is rated as a Globally Outstanding marine conservation area by IUCN, and recognized as a potential world heritage site by UNESCO. It is also described as an important region in Africa for many large, iconic marine megafauna species, like the last viable population of dugongs in the Indian Ocean, humpback dolphins and oceanic manta rays. Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species, including green, leatherbacks, olive ridley, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles, swim in these waters and nest along the shoreline. The productive waters provide critical habitat for migratory species, as evidenced by the hundreds of humpback whales sighted during our short time in the region. …

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St Helena Island Recognized as Mission Blue Hope Spot

In the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean between Angola and Brazil lies a remote volcanic island of a mighty 47 square miles (121.7 square kilometers). Discovered uninhabited in 1502 by the Portuguese, St Helena Island became a British Overseas Territory in 1659 and is now home to 4,439 residents (2021 Census). Due to its remote geographic location and small population, the island has not suffered the environmental degradation commonly seen in other blue places around the world. Recognizing this, the St Helena National Trust, and local and UK governments are working in tandem to maintain a vibrant and healthy future for both the island’s wildlife and human inhabitants.
 

 
 
International marine conservation non-profit Mission Blue has named St Helena Island a Hope Spot in honor of the island’s ongoing initiatives to manage and monitor its marine environment as well as to grow a sustainable economy.…

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A Hope Spot Expedition Heads to the Tropical Eastern Pacific’s Enchanted Galápagos Islands

The Spanish version can be read below.

In the equatorial Eastern Pacific, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, lies an active volcanic archipelago that is like nowhere else on earth. Early Spanish sailors called these islands the Enchanted Isles because of the strong currents that pulled ships off course and heavy mist that caused the islands to “disappear”. Though the name was not initially intended to be a compliment, “enchanted” is still an apt description for this seemingly-magical geological and biological hotspot, now called the Galápagos Islands.
The 19 islands and dozens of islets that make up the Galápagos archipelago were all formed by volcanic activity, a hot spot where intense heat from the Earth’s mantle forced the crust of the Nazca Plate, an oceanic tectonic plate, upward.…

Posted in .Homepage, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Featured, Partner Stories, Photo of the Day, sylvia earle, Uncategorized |

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Hope Spot Declared at Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica in Support of Nursery for Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks

There aren’t many creatures on Earth that offer a remarkable resemblance to the mythical beings we imagined from our childhood storybooks. The endangered scalloped hammerhead shark, with its famous laterally shaped head carrying eyeballs on either side, is perhaps one of these mysterious manifestations that awe those of us on land. Unfortunately, the scalloped hammerheads are endangered, due to overfishing in Golfo Dulce. Golfo Dulce in Costa Rica is an exceptional ecosystem that hosts a nursery for the scalloped hammerhead shark, with thousands of baby sharks born there every year. Recent research suggests evidence of a biological connection between the scalloped hammerheads in critical coastal habitats and the surrounding waters of Cocos Island, making the gulf, one of only four tropical fjords in the world, a crucial area to protect.…

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