{"id":75301,"date":"2025-06-07T17:32:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T15:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=75301"},"modified":"2025-06-13T05:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T03:33:07","slug":"4-ways-take-action-protect-oceans-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/75301\/4-ways-take-action-protect-oceans-people\/","title":{"rendered":"4 ways to take action to protect oceans and people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While coastal and Indigenous communities have been sustainably managing the ocean, protecting biodiversity and safeguarding a healthy climate for all for centuries, destructive fishing and industrial exploitation is harming people\u2019s health and livelihood, while destroying nature and climate. We need to uphold community driven solutions to ensure a fair and sustainable future for the ocean and the people \u2013 and demand governments follow their lead.<\/p>\n\n

\"Woman
Julienne Dogue, a woman working in the fish processing business, collects seafood on the shore near Mar Lodj fishing village, Fatick region, Senegal.
\u00a9 Cl\u00e9ment Tardif \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The ocean has been at the heart of coastal communities\u2019 livelihoods, feeding families around the world and weaving communities together through vibrant cultural traditions.<\/strong> Millions of small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, and coastal people rely on healthy oceans for food, income, and cultural survival. <\/p>\n\n

But oceans and people\u2019s health are threatened <\/strong>by unsustainable practices and industrial exploitation <\/strong>\u2013 from state-imposed industrial megaprojects and destructive fishing in Thailand, to intensive aquaculture in Chilean Patagonia, fishmeal and fish oil factories in West Africa, and bottom trawling in Sri Lanka. Despite misleading promises,<\/strong> industrial exploitation is bringing havoc <\/strong>on nature and in most cases impoverishing communities. <\/p>\n\n

Solutions are within voices making waves<\/strong>, and this is why we need to uphold community driven solutions to ensure a fair and sustainable future for the ocean and the people \u2013 and demand governments follow their lead. <\/p>\n\n

\"World
Women activists with their empty traditional calabash bowls, raise their fists in defiance in Mbour, Senegal to highlight their grassroots campaigns against industrial overfishing and coastal industrialisation and demand government action. They also hold a banner reading “My gourd is empty because of trawlers”.
\u00a9 Cl\u00e9ment Tardif \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

UNOC3: A pivotal moment for people and the ocean<\/h2>\n\n

Global leaders gather this week at the UN Ocean Conference, UNOC3, in Nice, France to discuss the future of the oceans, and because we all depend on the oceans, this big global event is crucial for the future of oceans and people.<\/p>\n\n

Marine conservation can only be a success with coastal communities leading the wa(y)ve.<\/strong> This UNOC is going to be an important moment to set the level of ambition of the states in the UN Ocean Conference political declaration. Governments need to recognise that coastal people, who have been ocean stewards and traditional knowledge holders on sustainable ocean management and practices for centuries, are the rightful leaders of coastal protection and the 30×30 target. <\/p>\n\n

You may wonder: How can I, from the other side of the world, contribute to this big global event? <\/p>\n\n

Here are 4 concrete and easy actions you can take right away in order to support coastal people\u2019s rights and ocean conservation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

ACTION 1: Post on Twitter\/ X, Threads and Bluesky to call on world leaders to ensure community-led marine protection <\/h2>\n\n

Post on Twitter\/ X<\/a>, Threads<\/a> and Bluesky<\/a> to tell world leaders that small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, and local coastal communities must be recognised as rights-holders and frontline stewards of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n

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Industrial ocean exploitation & unsustainable practices wreak havoc on nature & put livelihoods at risk. Governments need to ensure ocean governance is equitable, rights-based, community-led, not bow to companies' greedy interests. #UNOC3 #OceanJustice<\/p>— Greenpeace International \ud83c\udf0d (@greenpeace.org)<\/a> 2025-06-07T15:59:51.849Z<\/a><\/blockquote>