Marine Conservation Institute

Marine Conservation Institute We use the latest science to identify important marine ecosystems around the world, and then advocate

As Kenya’s largest marine protected area, and a popular tourist destination, Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KNMP...
08/21/2026

As Kenya’s largest marine protected area, and a popular tourist destination, Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KNMPA) is home to some of the most diverse and plentiful marine life seen in the region.

In 2023, a Blue Parks Small Grant was awarded to KMNPA to enhance community participation in MPA management, promote sustainable fishing practices, and improve conservation awareness.

Here’s how they did it 👇

1. Community Participation
✅ Trained 40 boat operators & community members in sustainable tourism
✅ Community members now join monthly patrols alongside state agencies

2. Sustainable Fishing Practices
✅ Funded patrol boat maintenance enabling daily patrols that deter illegal fishing, prevent poaching, ensure gear compliance, and respond to rescues
✅ Installed 16 mooring buoys to protect habitats from anchor damage

3. Conservation Awareness
✅ Delivered 300+ education sessions since 2023, including school partnerships on marine ecology and sustainable MPA use
✅ Planted 600 tree seedlings with Kibuyini Community Forest Association for World Environment Day
✅ Led a beach clean-up to protect local habitats

Incredible work, KMNPA 🌊

Curious what's possible when a Blue Park gets the support it deserves? Read via the link in our bio.

Happy Wednesday featuring the Pitcairn Islands MPA 🇵🇳This Blue Park protects over 1,200 documented species, including ...
08/19/2026

Happy Wednesday featuring the Pitcairn Islands MPA 🇵🇳

This Blue Park protects over 1,200 documented species, including several endemic species. Swipe to see some of their wildlife:

🐦 Providence petrel: Nests only on remote islands
🐋 Humpback whale: breeds and calves here seasonally
🐦 Masked b***y: dives from great heights
🐢 Green sea turtle: endangered, nests on beaches
🪸 Lobe coral: thrives in deep water

Awarded Blue Park Platinum status in 2023, Pitcairn Islands MPA demonstrates exceptional marine wildlife conservation. It safeguards coral atolls, deep seamounts, and some of the deepest-growing corals ever recorded. Its waters also serve as a breeding ground for the oceanic subpopulation of humpback whales, and protect species like grey reef and critically endangered whitetip reef sharks.

A community of fewer than 50 people manages this pristine ecosystem in the remote heart of the South Pacific– over 850,000 km² effectively protected for 10 years. Read more about this wonderful Blue Park on our website. Great work!

Photo credit: Luke Hosty, Charlene Warren

For 30 years, we’ve been committed to ensuring marine protection is effective, science-based, and built to endure. Throu...
08/18/2026

For 30 years, we’ve been committed to ensuring marine protection is effective, science-based, and built to endure. Through our three programs, Blue Parks, MPAtlas, and High Seas, we progress towards that goal everyday.

Long-term ocean protection is powered by the people, science, and systems behind it 🌊At Galápagos Marine Reserve, suppor...
08/17/2026

Long-term ocean protection is powered by the people, science, and systems behind it 🌊

At Galápagos Marine Reserve, support for the Blue Park Conservation Fund has helped strengthen enforcement, satellite monitoring, and long-term protection across one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on Earth.

Some conservation outcomes include:
🛡️ 138,665 km² effectively protected
📅 28 years of sustained protection, since 1998
🐠 2,900+ species benefiting
🐋 Home to 25 endangered species, including blue whales, Galápagos penguins, and mako sharks
🦈 The highest reef fish biomass ever recorded, with apex predators making up about 75% of the total
🩵 Scalloped hammerhead sharks alone account for 48% of fish biomass at Darwin and Wolf Islands, a vital nursery for this critically endangered species
📡 Satellite and vessel tracking technology deployed reserve-wide
🚤 Patrols nearly doubled, from 478 to 862 annually
⏱️ 28% reduction in reporting time

These outcomes are possible because long-term protection is backed by long-term investment, adaptive management, and local stewardship.

Support protection that's already delivering measurable conservation outcomes.

🔗 bit.ly/mci-donate

Nearly half of the Earth's surface is considered "high seas" - ocean waters beyond any country's border. Protecting them...
08/14/2026

Nearly half of the Earth's surface is considered "high seas" - ocean waters beyond any country's border. Protecting them has always been uniquely difficult, but that started to change this year when the High Seas Treaty entered into force, giving countries a real path to propose Marine Protected Areas in international waters.

Here's the challenge: building a strong protection proposal means pulling together data that's usually scattered across dozens of sources. That's exactly what our High Seas Protection Portal was built to solve.

Swipe through to see 4 ways the Portal is turning science into stronger ocean protection, and read the full story at the link below.

https://www.minderoo.org/stories/high-seas-protection-portal/

A Blue Park Award isn't permanent. That's what makes it meaningful.Every five years, Blue Parks undergo a rigorous revie...
08/13/2026

A Blue Park Award isn't permanent. That's what makes it meaningful.

Every five years, Blue Parks undergo a rigorous review to determine whether they still meet the world's highest standard for effective marine protection.

Chumbe Island Coral Reef Sanctuary has once again earned Gold Blue Park status!

Managed by Chumbe Island Coral Park Ltd. (CHICOP), this privately run sanctuary off the coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania protects some of the most spectacular coral gardens in the world - home to hundreds of reef fish species, blacktip reef sharks, endangered green and hawksbill turtles, and a rare coral rag forest found nowhere else in the region. Despite the sudden loss of tourism revenue during the pandemic and a rise in poaching pressure, Chumbe's reefs and rangers held the line, and its ecosystems continue to show remarkable resilience.

In our newest Enduring Blue Parks issue, we explore what the five-year review revealed, how Chumbe adapted through crisis, and what its success can teach us about protecting the ocean for generations to come.

🔗 Read the full story: https://marine-conservation.org/on-the-tide/enduring-blue-parks-chumbe-island-coral-reef-sanctuary/

Happy from the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS), Palau! 🇵🇼🐟 Manta rays: gliding through open water with wide pec...
08/12/2026

Happy from the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS), Palau! 🇵🇼

🐟 Manta rays: gliding through open water with wide pectoral fins and cephalic lobes
🐚 Nautilus: a "living fossil" with a spiral, chambered shell unchanged for 500+ million years
🐠 Black-and-white snapper: schooling in large numbers, mouths open as they feed
🪸 Translucent coral goby: camouflaged against the orange branches of a gorgonian soft coral

The sanctuary is also home to nearly 30 marine mammal species, 60 species of sharks and rays, threatened hawksbill and leatherback turtles and endangered blue whales 🐋

Established in 2015 and fully in effect since 2020, PNMS was the first MPA of its kind, protecting 80% of Palau's national waters in a fully protected no-take zone across 475,077 km². Its depths span over 400 seamounts and sea knolls, plus the Palau Trench, reaching 8,000m and largely unexplored 🌊
PNMS reflects Palau's traditional indigenous practice of "bul," leaving ecosystems undisturbed for future generations.

📸 [Alan Friedlander, Enric Sala]

Meet our new interns! 👋We're thrilled to welcome Maryam, Priya, Srividya, Grace, and Jocelyn to the Marine Conservation ...
08/11/2026

Meet our new interns! 👋

We're thrilled to welcome Maryam, Priya, Srividya, Grace, and Jocelyn to the Marine Conservation Institute team! From our Blue Parks program to communications, they're diving right in to help us advance effective ocean protection.

Moment #6 of 30 🌊Every year, the Our Ocean Conference is where the world turns ocean promises into action — and it's al...
08/10/2026

Moment #6 of 30 🌊

Every year, the Our Ocean Conference is where the world turns ocean promises into action — and it's also where we announce our Blue Park Awards, honoring marine protected areas that meet the highest science-based standard for real conservation impact. (The one exception: years when the UN Ocean Conference happens, we present the Awards there instead.)

This year, OOC11 made history as the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil — hosted in Mombasa, Kenya, under the theme "Our Ocean, Our Heritage, Our Future."

On opening day, we announced 6 new Blue Parks spanning 3 continents: Banc-des-Américains (Canada), KAWAWANA (Senegal), Nosy Hara, Nosy Tanihely, and Sahamalaza-îles Radama (Madagascar), and Rapa Nui (Chile) — together protecting roughly 732,000 km² of ocean under governance models ranging from Indigenous-led to binational co-management.

As our President Dr. Lance Morgan put it: "It's not a numbers exercise — it's an ocean health exercise."

30×30 isn't just about hitting a percentage. It's about protection that actually works. 🐢🌍

"After this, go home, hug your family and your loved ones, and tell them thank you. Tell them that they are all part of ...
08/06/2026

"After this, go home, hug your family and your loved ones, and tell them thank you. Tell them that they are all part of this important work that we do." 🎙️

This Blue Park Spotlight takes us to Misool Marine Reserve in Raja Ampat, Indonesia - where protecting the ocean is a community effort.

Local rangers patrol the reserve. Scientists from Pattimura University track reef health year after year. Misool Foundation and ReShark are raising endangered leopard sharks from nursery to release, with local high schoolers along for the journey. And the Community Recycling Programme has kept 1,331 metric tons of waste out of these waters since 2018.

This is what a Blue Park looks like in action. 🌊

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