By Melanie Gade, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships at WWF
Ecuador is among the most biodiverse nations on the earth. Situated 1,000km from continental Ecuador, the Galapagos is a shining microcosm of this wealthy biodiversity. It’s largely formed by three highly effective marine currents that make it not like every other ecosystem on the earth.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
The Humbolt Present is a chilly, deep-water present that arrives on the Galapagos up the coast from South America and the Antarctic. It brings with it extremely productive marine waters. It’s thought that the endemic Galapagos Penguin – together with many different species now endemic to the Galapagos – initially arrived on the islands by way of the Humbolt Present. The Cromwell present comes from the East as a productive floor water present. Lastly, the Panama Present hits the Galapagos to the North bringing with it any restricted rainfall that involves the islands. Collectively, these currents form climate patterns and produce wealthy vitamins to the numerous species that decision the Galapagos house.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
In 2022, 196 nations signed the worldwide biodiversity framework agreeing to guard 30% of the land and waters by 30%. This was a transformative second for world biodiversity safety; it gave the worldwide neighborhood an aspirational “north star” to reverse biodiversity loss and injected new momentum into nationwide processes to preserve and defend essential ecosystems.
Ecuador is a superb instance of a rustic that is working laborious to associate with communities and different stakeholders within the nation to ship towards this “30×30” dedication. For instance, in 2023, President Lasso declared your entire coast of Ecuador’s mainland (out to eight nautical miles) a marine protected space. In 2022, the Ecuadorian Authorities expanded the Galapagos Marine Reserve by 60,000 sq. kilometers bringing the overall space to 198,000 sq. kilometers.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
Along with defending its personal areas, in 2021, Ecuador joined Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica in committing to create the most important transboundary marine protected space on the earth. This effort spans 600,000 km2, half of which is new safety, and collectively spans roughly the dimensions of California. This initiative would assist consolidate essential transboundary safety efforts and importantly assist migratory species – like humpback whales – which journey up the shoreline of the Americas as a part of their seasonal migration patterns.
WWF works with nations like Ecuador to assist their 30×30 ambition in some ways. By a brand new collaborative referred to as Enduring Earth, WWF and our companions are working to develop sustainable finance for protected and conserved areas in lots of places all through the world, together with within the Japanese Tropical Pacific. As an worker working to assist this huge world effort, touring to see the species and the locations WWF and our companions, together with Nat Hab, are working so laborious to guard, was an enriching expertise.
© Melanie Gade / WWF-US
