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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 237 news items in Ocean & Biodiversity
    The High Seas Treaty Comes Into Force: What This Means for Ocean Protection
    Ocean & BiodiversityFebruary 4, 2026

    The High Seas Treaty Comes Into Force: What This Means for Ocean Protection

    Excerpt from earthshotprize.org Today, the High Seas Treaty officially enters into force, marking a historic milestone for global ocean protection and international cooperation. After more than two decades of negotiations, this moment signals a new era in how the world governs and protects nearly half of the planet. The Treaty, formally known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), gives humanity its first global legal framework to safeguard the High Seas. Winner of The Earthshot Prize 2025, the High Seas Treaty reflects the power of collective action and demonstrates that protecting our shared ocean is possible. This is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new chapter in ocean governance.

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    Brazil's most mysterious oceanic island recovers part of its forest after eliminating goats
    Ocean & BiodiversityFebruary 4, 2026

    Brazil's most mysterious oceanic island recovers part of its forest after eliminating goats

    Excerpt from oglobo.globo.com Photo credit: Élcio Braga via OGlobo.Globo.com The Brazilian island that holds the most mysteries per square kilometer is becoming greener. For centuries, Trindade — 1,180 kilometers off the coast of Espírito Santo — began to be devastated by a herd of hungry goats, transforming it almost into a desert bathed by the South Atlantic. A study conducted by researchers from the National Museum, with support from the Navy, shows that this scenario has been changing over the last 30 years. A forest is resurging — and, even better, with native species. The green area increased by 1,468%, equivalent to 65 hectares. Meanwhile, the undergrowth expanded by 325 hectares, an increase of 319%.

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    The Great Pacific Garbage, Once the World’s Dirtiest Ocean Zone, Is Now Home to Dozens of Species
    Ocean & BiodiversityJanuary 16, 2026

    The Great Pacific Garbage, Once the World’s Dirtiest Ocean Zone, Is Now Home to Dozens of Species

    Photo Credit: The Ocean Cleanup, via dailygalaxy.com Excerpt from dailygalaxy.com It floats, it drifts, it doesn’t break down. Plastic in the ocean is everywhere, but now it’s doing more than polluting. It’s becoming something else. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where no islands or coastlines exist, small marine animals are settling. They’re not just riding the currents. They’re building communities. Some are growing, others are reproducing. All of them are doing it on plastic.

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    Could freezing coral larvae protect reefs from ocean warming?
    Ocean & BiodiversityJanuary 16, 2026

    Could freezing coral larvae protect reefs from ocean warming?

    Image: UNEP, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Flickr. Excerpt from eco-business.com The Coral Triangle, one of the planet’s most diverse reef regions, is under siege. The area, spanning the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, is home to 75 per cent of the world’s known coral species. It sustains 3,000 species of reef fish and the livelihoods of over 120 million people. But over 85 per cent of its reefs are threatened by rising temperatures, ocean acidification, pollution and unsustainable fishing, according to the World Resources Institute.

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    Scientists discover incredible 'window into the past' at remote islands: 'We only have five years left'
    Ocean & BiodiversityJanuary 16, 2026

    Scientists discover incredible 'window into the past' at remote islands: 'We only have five years left'

    Excerpt and Photo Credit: thecooldown.com An incredible new study examining shark and predatory fish populations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific shines a light on what the ocean ought to look like at its healthiest, according to an article by the National Geographic Society that was shared by Phys.org. The study surveyed remote marine protected areas such as the Galápagos, Malpelo, Clipperton, and Revillagigedo islands. It also looked at islands that were closer to coasts. It found that shark populations were much higher in the most remote and well-protected areas. Meanwhile, the more accessible and coastal marine protected areas, which allow fishing, showed signs of depletion. "The oceanic islands of the Eastern Tropical Pacific represent a window into the past, where sharks and large predatory fishes are the norm and not the exception," said senior author Dr. Pelayo Salinas-de-León, the principal investigator at the Charles Darwin Foundation. "These areas provide a glimpse of what a healthy ocean looks like."

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    Tiny Caribbean island brings hope for critically endangered iguana
    Ocean & BiodiversityJanuary 15, 2026

    Tiny Caribbean island brings hope for critically endangered iguana

    Excerpt from news.mongabay.com Over the past decade, Prickly Pear East, a small, privately owned island in the Caribbean, has become a beacon of hope for a critically endangered lizard. The islet, near the main island of Anguilla, a British territory, is one of just five locations where the lesser Antillean iguana (Iguana delicatissima) is breeding and thriving, protected from invasive iguanas and human disturbances, conservationists say. The latest surveys, from July, show the species’ population on Prickly Pear East has grown to more than 300 adults and adolescents — up from just 23 individuals that were moved there from Anguilla starting in 2016.

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    Coral reefs in Mauritius are turning ghostly white. Can nurseries rescue them from climate change?
    Ocean & BiodiversityMay 12, 2026

    Coral reefs in Mauritius are turning ghostly white. Can nurseries rescue them from climate change?

    Excerpt from cbc.ca For Nadeem Nazurally, snorkelling off the coast of Mauritius lately has become disheartening.  The coral reefs that once glowed in vivid greens, blues and pinks now stretch out below him, faded and ghostly. “When I see … all white, it means there is a big problem,” Nazurally, an associate professor at the University of Mauritius’ faculty of agriculture, told What on Earth’s Laura Lynch. “We are losing all these colours, we are losing life, we are losing those important corals,” which not only act as natural buffers against the island’s frequent cyclones, but are also vital to tourism, fisheries and support a wide range of marine life. In Mauritius, home to nearly 250 species of coral and 150 kilometres of reef, the decline has been stark. The island nation off Africa’s southeast coast has lost roughly half of its coral cover since the 1970s, according to the International Union from the Conservation of Nature, enduring multiple bleaching events and a devastating oil spill in 2020. Across the western Indian Ocean, rising ocean temperatures driven by climate change are triggering mass coral bleaching events on an unprecedented scale. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns the world's coral reefs would virtually vanish if global warming exceeds 2C above pre-industrial levels.

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    Indonesia’s crocodile attacks rise as wetlands are cleared for mining, oil palm
    Ocean & BiodiversityMay 12, 2026

    Indonesia’s crocodile attacks rise as wetlands are cleared for mining, oil palm

    Excerpt and Photo credit from eco-business.com Residents of a centuries-old coastal settlement in the world’s largest tin-mining outpost — Bangka Island — fear that the environmental damage over just a few decades is behind a frightening rise in reports of violent deaths. In February, local fisher Jauhari became the latest person here on Bangka’s west coast to be killed by an estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The 40-year-old was likely the 21st victim in the last five years, according to local wildlife charity Alobi Foundation. The saltwater crocodile — the world’s largest reptile — can exceed 6 meters (20 feet) in length, weighing up to 2 tons (4,400 pounds) and live more than 70 years. On Bangka Island, it ordinarily lurks quietly beneath the surface of estuaries and lagoons. “This has happened because many swamps and tributaries that are the habitat of estuarine crocodiles have been damaged by illegal tin mining, and then turned into oil palm plantations,” Suhadi, who lives in western Bangka’s Menduk village, told Mongabay Indonesia in late March.

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    Seychelles’ Blue Bond: Turning Ocean Vision into Action
    Ocean & BiodiversityMay 7, 2026

    Seychelles’ Blue Bond: Turning Ocean Vision into Action

    Excerpt from globalissues.org Photo credit: Michaela Rimakova / Unsplash via GlobalIssues.org As the world prepares for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) meeting in Samarkand next month, Seychelles’ pioneering blue bond offers a compelling lesson in practical ocean finance. For small island states, the ocean is not merely a natural resource; it is the foundation of national life, economic opportunity, and long-term resilience against climate threats. As President of Seychelles, I introduced the blue economy as a national vision as early as 2008. I did so because I believed then—as I do now—that for an island nation spanning 1.4 million square kilometers of ocean, sustainable development must begin with responsible stewardship of our marine resources. Our future depended on learning how to protect biodiversity, manage fisheries sustainably, and build economic models that serve both present needs and future generations. This vision positioned Seychelles as an early advocate for integrating ocean health with national prosperity. That vision was not developed in isolation. It was strengthened through deliberate steps and high-level conversations that bridged policy ambition with financial innovation. A key milestone came with the debt-for-nature swap, finalized with the Paris Club creditors and The Nature Conservancy in 2014. This landmark agreement restructured approximately US$21.6 million in debt, freeing resources for marine conservation and climate adaptation. It directly led to the creation of SeyCCAT, the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust, which has since become a vital mechanism for channeling funds into ocean protection, sustainable fisheries, and resilience projects.

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