The Bertarelli Foundation recently supported an expedition to British Indian Ocean Territory, one objective of which was to survey damage to the coral reef from previous bleaching events, and to see the extent of any damage this year.  Dominic Andradi-Brown of the University of Oxford provided this update.

I’ve just returned from two weeks of coral reef surveys in the Chagos Archipelago. While logistically and scientifically the expedition was a great success, the coral reef health surveys we conducted suggested there has been widespread coral death here over the past couple of years.

Last year, during the April expedition, we recorded a coral die off in the shallows, particularly with the large plating and branching Acropora corals dying off that previously dominated these reefs.

The reefs were characterised in the shallows by many large upturned plates, with the few Acropora colonies still alive but looking heavily diseased.

Many of the other branching corals, such as Pocillopora, were still alive but showing signs of bleaching.

Bleaching, which is caused by high sea temperatures combined with sunlight exposure for a prolonged period of time, doesn’t necessarily kill corals. There are plenty of examples of corals recovering following bleaching events, and in fact these corals that do recover are the focus of research as they may hold the key to coral reef survival through climate change.

The positives from our 2016 trip were there were lots of healthy young corals, called recruits, that had settled onto the reef, offering hope that the reefs of the archipelago could recover.

We left the 2016 expedition slightly apprehensive about what would happen to the reefs next. Would the dead Acropora plates erode down destroying many of the coral recruits? Would the Pocillopora recover following the bleaching?

So it was with much trepidation we returned this year to see what further changes there had been. At first glance the shallow reefs looked fairly similar, after all, the plating Acropora that had previously died off had been the dominant coral at many sites.

However, as we got further into surveys we began to notice that the many other branching corals, such as the Pocillopora, that were bleaching as we left last year had now died as well.

In several places we encountered large rubble patches, most likely caused from the erosion and breakdown of the branching corals that had died over the previous two years.

Unfortunately for the reefs of the Chagos Archipelago it seems they have had two years of back-to-back change.

Despite this there are a few glimmers of hope.

Generally the deeper reefs below 20 m depth appeared reasonably healthy, with high coral cover. In the shallows, the remaining living corals (mostly Porites species) seem in good condition and there was no sign of further bleaching in progress while we were there.

Many of the coral recruits we observed last year have survived and grown. As part of our survey work this year we were interested in tracking reef recovery. So we have identified individual young Acropora colonies, measured their surface area and 3D structure to be able to track their growth over the next few years.

There is hope that the reefs of the Chagos Archipelago can recover, as a similar coral die-off happened back in 1998 from which the reefs recovered.

However, the key question is the frequency with which bleaching occurs, and whether there will be time for recovery before the next big bleaching event.

Thanks to the Bertarelli Foundation for funding the expedition. For updates from when we were in the field, please search for the hashtag #BIOTExp17 on twitter.

At the third Our Ocean conference, held on Thursday, 15^th September in Washington DC, the British Government declared the waters around the Pitcairn Islands as a complete, no-take marine reserve covering 834,334 km². This is an incredible step forward for the health of the planet – protecting large expanses of ocean helps to protect entire marine ecosystems and maintain biodiversity in the seas on which all life on earth depends.

The Pitcairn Islands are a group of four remote islands – Pitcairn, Ducie, Oeno, and Henderson – in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Though the islands are themselves small, the territory has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in the world, within which lies some of the most important oceanic ecosystems.

Famous as the island inhabited by descendants of the mutineers from the HMS Bounty, the waters around Pitcairn contain some of the best coral reefs in the world and intact deep-sea habitats with many species new to science. Mindful of the treasures that lie around their home, the Pitcairn islanders called for the creation of a Marine Protected Area. Accordingly, in March 2015, the British government announced their intention to ban commercial fishing and designate the territory as a marine reserve as well as to create a ‘Blue Belt’ around other British Overseas Territories.

Following that announcement, the Bertarelli Foundation, together with the Pew Charitable Trusts, supported the trailing of new technologies such as the UK Satellite Applications Catapult’s ‘Eyes on the Sea‘ and Liquid Robotics Waveglider platform.  This trial helped to inform the creation of an effective monitoring and enforcement strategy, and paved the way for the final designation of the reserve.

Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State at the UK Foreign Office announced the final designation of the reserve at the 2016 Our Ocean conference and added:

“Protecting four million square kilometres of ocean is a fantastic achievement, converting our historic legacy into modern environmental success. This demonstrates our commitment to delivering the Blue Belt pledge.”

On hearing the news, Ernesto Bertarelli commented:

“I’m delighted to continue our successful partnership with the UK government.  This significant designation will help protect an important part of the ocean using the next generation of monitoring and enforcement technologies.  It is my hope that other governments will look at what we’ve supported around Pitcairn when considering how they might monitor and enforce their own marine reserves.”

For the last seven years, since it began its major support for what was then the world’s largest marine protected area around the British Indian Ocean Territory, encompassing both enforcement and scientific investigation, the Bertarelli Foundation has worked across the globe helping governments and local communities create marine reserves. On Wednesday, 14th September, Dona Bertarelli announced the Foundation’s latest partnership which will safeguard some of the most vulnerable parts of our ocean.

At the third Our Ocean conference in Washington DC, Dona Bertarelli announced the creation of the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project, a new partnership to conserve the world’s oceans and create the next generation of parks in the sea:

“Sailing competitively around the world I have seen first-hand the devastation that man’s influence is having on our oceans – whether through over fishing, plastic pollution or acidification.  The need to create large marine reserves could not be greater than it is today, and I’m very proud that the Bertarelli Foundation is building on its work in this area, now in partnership with Pew, to create more of these vitally important sanctuaries which will help protect not just the ocean but the way of life of those who depend on it.”

The $30 million partnership builds upon an existing collaboration which has seen both organisations work to protect huge areas of ocean in the Pacific Ocean, around the neighbouring Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island. This represents almost four years of working with local communities, governments, scientists, and other stakeholders to advance the cause of these incredible places.

In 2013 the Bertarelli Foundation partnered with Pew to support satellite monitoring to detect illegal fishing activity in the waters around Easter Island, Chile, helping to provide evidence that fish were being caught illegally and to support the case for a marine reserve. In the UK the Bertarelli Foundation and Pew have worked together to provide  monitoring of fishing activity in the waters surrounding Pitcairn  in support of the British Government’s efforts to finalise the designation of the Pitcairn Marine Reserve.

More ocean has been set aside for protection in the past 18 months than during any other period in history, with announcements of new marine reserves by the governments of the U.S., the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, and Palau. But even with these successes, only about 3 per cent of the world’s ocean has been set aside with strong protections.

By harnessing the recent global momentum and political courage of world leaders who have taken action to conserve our ocean, the Bertarelli Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts’ partnership will scale up efforts to secure a future of healthy oceans that was once unimaginable.

A landmark resolution was adopted, in June 2015 by a consensus of UN member states, to develop a legally-binding treaty for the conservation of marine life beyond national territorial waters – that area of the ocean shared by all. Resolution UNGA 99/292 signalled a major step forward toward convening an intergovernmental negotiating conference that would finalise the terms of the new treaty, possibly in 2018. The resolution called for a two-year process which began last week at the UN Headquarters in New York; Dona Bertarelli attended the meeting on behalf of the Bertarelli Foundation and left New York feeling positive about the future:

The sea is in the blood of my brother and I. We’ve sailed since we were children, first in Italy with our parents, and then as we’ve grown older, we have both competed, raced yachts and broken records.  Our love of the sea has spread to our own children; it’s because of the next generation, and those that will follow, that we care so passionately about the health of the oceans, and are determined to play our part in protecting them.

The Bertarelli Foundation is proud to have been at the centre of efforts to create Marine Protected Areas. But we know that these can only ever cover a tiny proportion of the world’s oceans. That’s why the United Nations initiative to protect the high seas is so important.  Ultimately, the aim is to have a treaty that will include capacity-building, technology transfer, and crucially, good governance.  It will need to consider fisheries and marine genetic resources, as well as the fast-developing technologies that enable deep-sea mining.

The first formal step towards creating that treaty came last week, with the initial Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom) at the UN HQ in New York. I was privileged to attend on behalf of the Bertarelli Foundation and meet the key players attempting to bring about a robust and ambitious accord.  The Chair of the PrepCom, Ambassador Eden Charles, told me how important it is for there to be a strong agreement – and is acutely aware of the challenges of getting all member states to agree. But he was encouraged by the commitment and enthusiasm being shown in the meeting room: as I sat in the session it was good to hear that every country recognised the importance of the health of the seas, including landlocked states such as our home nation of Switzerland.

Ambassador Charles highlighted the efforts made by civil society even to get to this stage, and so I was delighted that the Bertarelli Foundation could bring together representatives of the lobby groups and nation states, to enable informal conversations and an opportunity to discuss what is at stake.

There is no doubt that a huge amount of work lies ahead. It will take years to reach a final agreement and iron out the details.  As Lisa Speer from the National Resources Defence Council pointed out to me, though, this is about figuring out the future of half the planet.  Like sailors battling for the finish line, what’s needed now is determination and tenacity: and I saw plenty of that in New York.

Dona Bertarelli