The high seas, or regions of the ocean beyond national borders, make up 50 per cent of earth’s area. They are home to a rich tapestry of ecosystems and an incredible diversity of wildlife, much of which remains undiscovered. Yet less than one per cent of the high seas are protected, and, as international [...]
Large dams are disastrous for freshwater ecosystems. From preventing salmon migrations, to flooding niche river ecosystems, to blocking nutrient-rich sediment from getting downstream, hydropower is a catastrophe for wildlife. Yet currently, hydropower supplies more than half of our renewable energy. Isn’t cutting our dependence on fossil fuels worth the biodiversity cost of new dams? [...]
There is an urgent need for increased long-term funding to support effective ocean conservation action. Mainstream ocean conservation efforts struggle to halt and reverse the decline in ocean health, while the ocean’s most reliable custodians—the people and communities who have long depended on it for sustenance—have often been overlooked and disenfranchised in efforts to [...]
The ocean is intrinsically entwined with our experience of the world, influencing our climate, our air, our food, our energy and more. Yet for many people, particularly those who live away from the coast, what is happening underwater, beyond our shores, feels too far away to contemplate or care about. But re-establishing the vital [...]
Anna Heath (left) with Camille Rivera from Oceanus Conservation. How to scale up action for the ocean? This was the focus of the 2022 United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference, which opened in Lisbon, Portugal, on 27 June. Our Programme and Partner Manager, Anna Heath, went along to support our partners and add [...]
Our High and Deep Seas Programme has been focused on these two overlooked areas of marine conservation for seven years. Building on its success, this programme has now been redeveloped into a broader Ocean Programme, expanding into new areas of critical but underfunded marine conservation. Programme and Partner Manager Anna Heath describes this exciting [...]
2021 has presented many challenges for conservation, with COVID-19 continuing to prevent safe engagement with communities, causing delays or cancellations to in-person events, and affecting marginalised communities the hardest. However, our team at Synchronicity Earth continue to be inspired by the resilience and resourcefulness of our partners, who continue to do extraordinary work to [...]
Fishing for human consumption is thought to be the biggest driver of biodiversity loss in our oceans, according to the recent Living Planet Report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Seafood is an important part of the diet of more than 3 billion people, and fisheries and aquaculture [...]
An Interview with Dr Helen Scales Dr Helen Scales is a writer, marine biologist and broadcaster. She is currently writing a book on Earth’s ‘final frontier’: the deep ocean. From a young age, Helen has been a passionate nature-lover and she fell hopelessly in love with the ocean after seeing it for the first [...]
In response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, Synchronicity Earth has added its signature to an open letter addressed to UK leadership urging rapid action for ocean protection. Four actions for oceans The letter, which was supported [...]