Oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and support an extraordinarily diverse world. Only a fraction of it has been discovered so far and much of ocean life remains a mystery which IUCN experts are striving to unveil.
It is estimated that more than 1 million species live on coral reefs alone, and as many as 10 million in the deep seas.
The threats facing the marine environment are numerous and complex yet less than 2% of the oceans are protected.
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Mayotte: yet to be recognized exceptional biodiversity
The French overseas department of Mayotte is located in the biogeographical area of the Comoros Archipelago, at the heart of the Mozambique Channel and close to Madagascar. Mayotte hosts a variety of land and marine tropical ecosystems which are of major ecological value, despite significant landscape changes due to the exploitation of first sugar cane and later rice. Read more about Mayotte in the new Country Focus. …
20 Jun 2013 | News story
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France and IUCN intensify their efforts to protect global biodiversity
Yesterday IUCN signed a new partnership agreement with France, which aims to support the Union's global biodiversity conservation work, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, oceans and global governance of natural resources. … | French
13 Jun 2013 | News story
Carole Martinez speaks up for Europe Overseas
Listen to Carole Martinez, Project coordinator for IUCN’s Europe Overseas Programme, talk about the challenges faced by Europe’s overseas entities on French radio station Rédaction Radio. Recorded at the European Parliament in May, Carole makes the case for a dedicated European funding mechanism to support conservation work in European overseas entities. …
11 Jun 2013 | Article
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