Protect Marine Life - Ocean Central
Protecting marine species is vital to ocean health, supporting biodiversity, climate regulation, and food security.
From the smallest reef fish to the largest marine mammals, the health of all species is essential for sustaining ecosystems, regulating climate, and supporting coastal livelihoods. Marine species also hold deep cultural and spiritual value, especially for Indigenous communities.
Today, marine life is under threat from overfishing, habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution. Restoration is gaining momentum, driven by stronger conservation policies, recognition of biodiversity’s economic value, and the leadership of Indigenous and local communities.
Scaling protections, aligning incentives, and investing in science and stewardship allow species populations to recover, ecosystems to thrive, and biodiversity to stabilize. Protecting species is essential to increasing marine life abundance — a core indicator of ocean health.
LPI 2025. Living Planet Index database. 2025. www.livingplanetindex.org. Downloaded on 24 July 2025.
The overall prevalence of marine species relative to a 1970 historical baseline
Recovering marine species takes time — often decades — as populations slowly rebuild and ecosystems heal. Protection is vital to give species the space, stability, and conditions they need to recover and thrive, especially in the face of ongoing pressures such as overfishing and habitat loss.
Duarte, C. M., Agusti, S., Barbier, E., et al. (2020). Rebuilding marine life. Nature, 580, 39–51. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2146-7
Recovery timelines vary widely across marine species, often spanning decades.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 15.5 set a target to reduce the degradation of natural habitats and halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020 — a goal that, globally, we did not meet. However, the urgency behind it remains as relevant as ever. With many species still facing extinction and ecosystems under growing pressure, accelerating action to protect and restore biodiversity is critical to reversing current trends and achieving long-term ocean health.
Halt the Extinction of Marine Life
By 2030, the global target set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is to ensure that 0% of marine species are at risk of extinction caused by humans. This chart highlights the difference between species classified as at risk of extinction by the IUCN, showing how close or far we are from hitting this crucial milestone. Variations in earlier years are largely due to the limited number of species assessments available at that time.
Increase the Abundance of Marine Species
By 2050, the aim, as outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, is to lower extinction rates while helping native marine species flourish. The population data from the IUCN includes the latest assessments of all marine species, regardless of their vulnerability status. This data can help us identify where to focus efforts to achieve healthy and stable species populations.