Donations/Advocacy

Donation and advocacy work is extremely important to protecting the oceans. Because jurisdictions and borders aren’t clear when it comes to the ocean, it can leave governments lacking responsibility for the well-being of the waters around them. Independent advocacy groups work around these governmental duties, and protect the oceans, which is why supporting reliable organizations with donations is so important. As the impacts of climate change become more evident in our everyday lives, governments have begun to make strides in protecting the oceans. It is important to support policy makers that support these government projects so that more projects with the goal of protecting the ocean are created. 

Marine Conservation Institute-

The Marine Conservation Institute has been working for 25 years with the mission of “securing permanent, strong protection for the oceans’ most important places- for us and future generations. Their aim is to create a world-wide system of Blue Parks, which are recognized securely protected marine areas. By doing this, the Marine Conservation Institute works to ensure the future diversity and abundance of marine life. The Marine Conservation Institute is a member of the High Seas Alliance, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and National Ocean Protection Coalition. These organizations, along with the Marine Conservation Institute, are working toward defending and advancing marine protection at home and abroad. Their website offers reliable information on the importance of ocean advocacy as well as specified areas and marine life that are in need of protection. Along with this information, they also discuss U.S. legislation that is currently in favor of ocean advocacy. These include a bill to reduce the production of certain single-use plastics, as well as a bill to improve efforts to combat marine debris. In order to encourage personal action, The Marine Conservation Institute lists 10 things that any person can do in order to advocate for ocean conservation in their daily lives. These include:

1. Learn about and support your local or national marine protected areas- research opportunities to volunteer with them.

2. If you travel, visit marine protected areas that are conserving marine wildlife.

3. Take only pictures, and leave only footprints.

4. Tell your legislators that you think protecting ocean wildlife is important.

5. Tell your legislators that you think acting on climate change is important.

6. Talk with others about ocean wildlife and ocean protections- spread the word about what we can do to save ocean ecosystems.

7. Stop using single-use plastics like grocery bags, straws, to-go containers, bottled drinks. Cut out unnecessary products out of your routines and opt for reusable items, and let companies know why you are choosing or avoiding their products.

8. Reduce your use of fossil fuels-  ride your bike, use electric cars and public transit, attend meetings and conferences virtually to reduce long-distance travel, power your home with renewable energy, and eat less meat.

9. If you eat seafood, buy only sustainably fished seafood.

10. Support conservation organizations working to safeguard marine biodiversity. 

If you’d like to support Marine Conservation Institute's work to save wild ocean places, please make a donation today.

Oceana-

Oceana is a public resource that advocates for ocean conservation with up-to-date articles and resources. Oceana is an international organization that focuses solely on oceans, and is dedicated to achieving measurable change by conducting specific, science-based policy campaigns with fixed deadlines and articulated goals. Oceana was founded in 2001 by a collection of foundations: The Pew Charitable Trusts, Oak Foundation, Marisla Foundation, Sandler Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Oceana provides a list of scientific publications, as well as public articles so that there is a multitude of information available that can be consumed at any level of understanding. Despite being an international organization, they provide specialized information on specific countries’ advocacy work and research publications and articles from that country. These countries include the United States, Chile, Canada, Belize, the Philippines, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and the United Kingdom, with an additional section on Europe in general and their actions toward ocean conservation. This resource is easy to consume and provides a wide variety of information. Not only that, but Oceana’s advocacy has been successful, achieving dozens of concrete policy victories for marine life and habitats. They have accomplished many things, like stopping bottom trawling in sensitive habitat areas and protecting sea turtles from commercial fishing gear. Oceana’s campaigns include the Blue Manifesto, plastics, responsible fishing, habitat protection and illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. They also list multiple petitions that you can sign to support ocean conservation. To support Oceana and their advocacy, please make a donation today.