Last year brought the publication ofPlanetary Boundaries for
a Blue Planet, an epic report that was 15 years in the making.
It was led by Ben Halpern, director of the National Center for
Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, an independent research
ailiate of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“It builds on some of the seminal work that Johan Rockström
developed about a decade ago at the Stockholm Resilience
Centre on planetary boundaries for the Earth,” he says. That
focused on the limits to which the Earth’s resources can be
pushed and remain sustainable but, as Halpern points out, it
“essentially forgot the ocean”.
“The message of the work,” he continues, “is that we are
probably closer to some of the boundaries beyond which the
system starts to break down irreversibly, than we realised.”Halpern trained as an ecologist and marine biologist and
believes it’s possible to find solutions to managing and
conserving nature only if you also understand people and how
they interact with it. “To do that you have to include economists,
decision scientists, social scientists, anthropologists and so on,
as well as all the scientists who study the natural system.”
He is optimistic “for two broad reasons. First, we still have
time; the window of opportunity is still open.” And second
because there’s been “an awakening of appreciation of the
oceans”. He cites the ongoing creation of Marine Protected
Areas “at really quite an accelerating pace” and “the international
treaties and UN commitments focusing on oceans for
the first time. There are wonderful examples of success and
hope,” he says.The Science Award
BEN HALPERN
Lead author of pioneering report on limits of Earth’s resources
FABIANO THOMPSON
Discovered a unique reef system
at the mouth of the AmazonLast year a team of four Brazilian
scientists from the Federal University of
RiodeJaneirosailed,withacrewof40,
on the Greenpeace shipEsperanzato the
mouthoftheAmazon,toexplorea
pristine reef system that had been
discovered in 2016. Extending for more
than600miles,andwithabiodiversityto
rivalthatoftheGreatBarrierReef,the
reefcontinuestosurpassexpectations.To
date, three new species of fish have been
identified, and about 40 that have never
before been encountered in this part of
theworld.AsFabianoThompson,an
oceanographer and professor of marine
biology at the university, says: “We found
a reef where the textbooks said there
shouldn’tbeone.Wethinkitisunique.
It is a megabiome, a major ecological
community of plants and animals with
its own endemic species. This makes
everything we published out of date.
We are rewriting the textbooks.”FinalistsWinnerDAVID OBURA
Led report into how local
economies rely on the oceanTheWesternIndianOceanisborderedby
10 African countries, supports about 60
million people who live within 100km of
theshore,andproducesorgenerates
$20.8billionayearingoodsandservices.
Adeclineinthehealthoftheocean
therefore threatens to be catastrophic
notjustecologicallyandenvironmentally
buteconomicallytoo.Thisprompteda
detailed investigation into how local
economies depend on the ocean,
publishedlastyearbyWWFasReviving the
Western Indian Ocean Economy: Actions
foraSustainableFuture, in collaboration
with the Kenya-based NGO CORDIO
[Coastal Oceans Research and
Development–IndianOcean]EastAfrica,
led by David Obura and the Boston
Consulting Group. Dr Obura’s research has
focusedonthreatstocoralreefhealth.
Asheputsit:“Withthefutureofcoral
reefs in serious question, their role as an
indicator of impending changes to other
natural and human-dominated
ecosystems is increasingly critical, to
prepare for and mitigate future disasters.”