National Geographic - USA (2022-01)

Marine protected area coverage

20%

of oceans

1990 2000 2010 2021 2030

10

7.9 %

2015-2021

trend

Trend

needed

to hit 30%

by 2030

582,000 square miles

Central Arctic Ocean

Fisheries Agreement

1.1 million square miles

19 other MPAs in international waters

INTERNATIONAL WATERS: 10% of MPA extent

SO

U

TH

ER

N

AT

LA

N

TI

C

AR

CTICCIRCLE

Central Arctic

Ocean Fisheries

Agreement

ARCTIC

OCEAN

ARCTIC

OCEAN

North Pole

A million species are at

risk of extinction. But 2021

provided promising news for

several at-risk species.

ON LAND, SOME

SPECIES ARE BACK

FROM THE BRINK

BY LAWSON PARKER

AND SHELLEY SPERRY

Ocean conservation has lagged behind efforts on land,

but in 2021 there were big gains near shore and at sea.

Aiding that progress was the National Geographic

Society’s Pristine Seas project, part of a global target to

protect at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.

ILLUSTRATIONS: MATTHEW TWOMBLY; NGM MAPS. SOURCES: MARINE PROTECTION ATLAS, MARINE

CONSERVATION INSTITUTE; PRISTINE SEAS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY; MARINEREGIONS.ORG

ACTION IN THE ARCTIC

Protections on the high seas are

a multinational challenge, but in

2021 nine nations and the European

Union began enforcing a treaty

that bans commercial fishing in

Arctic international waters for

16 years. Scientists plan to study

the region before ice melt can

lead to fishing and mining.

CAN WE GET TO 30 PERCENT?

Reaching this goal will require a variety of

solutions, including MPAs, international

treaties, and the involvement of previously

underrepresented groups. The world’s

370 million Indigenous people—who oversee

lands and waters accounting for 80 percent of

Earth’s biodiversity—are a growing influence.

Jaguar crossings

A National Geographic Explorer

captured rare video of a young

jaguar, dubbed “El Bonito,” on

the U.S.-Mexico border. Hunters

wiped out U.S. populations, but

conservation efforts in Mexico

are boosting their numbers, with

some returning to U.S. habitats.

Grasshopper sparrow soars

The most endangered bird in the

continental U.S. was also the first

sparrow successfully bred in cap-

tivity and released in the wild. The

new Florida Wildlife Corridor, sup-

ported by the National Geographic

Society, protects habitats for both

sparrows and panthers.

Cloning comeback

Elizabeth Ann was cloned from

the cells of another black-footed

ferret preserved for more than

30 years. Overseen by the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, the

cloning was the first successful

replication of a wild, endangered

species in North America.

This doubles the territory

protected from fishing in

international waters—regions

beyond country boundaries

that make up 64 percent of

the ocean’s area.