Our ocean is incredible. It's the lifeblood of our blue planet.
And it provides jobs, food, and livelihoods for billions of people.
It's really easy to think of it
as an infinite resource
stretching out as far as the eye can see.
But we've taken more than the ocean can replenish,
and now it's in trouble.
Unless we take action now,
it's almost certain that over the course of the next century,
our oceans will face further decline. They'll get warmer,
they'll get more acidic, and sea levels will rise across the globe.
This will be bad for marine species, habitats,
and for us. It's not all bad news though.
We know that it's possible to restore the ocean in 30 years,
and avoid the worst impacts of climate change,
but it's only possible if we act now.
Sky Ocean Rescue and WWF
are working together to protect and restore our amazing ocean.
Our ocean could be one of the biggest heroes in the climate and nature emergency,
which is why we're sharing our positive vision of hope,
for ocean recovery. Ocean recovery means bringing UK seas back
to life for people, climate, and nature.
Together we can help marine wildlife to thrive,
and improve the health of our waters which provides
so much food, jobs, and energy.
As well as being a huge part of our history, our culture,
and our shared heritage in coastal communities across the country.
We've developed a four-part plan for ocean recovery,
which will go into more detail about in a series of films.
Today, I'm going to talk about part one of that plan;
protecting and restoring our lost coastal habitats.
The UK's coastline means something to all of us.
Whether it's seaside getaways, coastal walks, family holidays,
or just good fish and chips.
And when we picture it, we might think of sandy beaches and the sea stretching out to the horizon,
but out of sight, and under the waves has so much more to it than that.
Coastal habitats like seagrass, salt marshes,
and kelp forests, are hidden worlds that some of us will only ever see in pictures
or on a screen.
To us they may be out of sight in this regard. They shouldn't be out of mind.
They all provide a nursery
for baby fish, protect our coastline from storms,
and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
and store it away in their soils for decades or longer.
However, because of damage from pollution, trawling, and other factors,
we've lost over 90% of these precious habitats,
and we're losing more each year.
But protecting and restoring these habitats isn't just vital
for the species that rely on them.
We've calculated that they can play a
big role in the fight against climate change.
It’s what we call a nature-based solution. Protecting coastal habitats could prevent
the release of 40 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions,
and starting to restore them, could help them to capture a further hundred
and fifty million tons of emissions by the middle of the century.
To put that into context that's the same amount of carbon dioxide
as would be released by 86,000 full long-haul flights from London to New York.
So in this part of our plan for action recovery,
we're asking for two things. The first is that we recognise the value of these blue carbon
habitats, and do all that we can to prevent any further loss.
The second is that the government work with coastal communities across
the country to restore those that have already been lost.
Whether it's through allowing them to regrow naturally,
or taking part in active restoration efforts.
Like we've done with seagrass meadows in Wales.
If we do this, it's entirely possible that they can make a huge difference
by the middle of the century, in terms of capturing
and storing carbon emissions.
What's more, is that by halting the loss of these coastal habitats,
we preserve the benefits they provide to us in terms of flood protection. Retaining these
natural defenses would save the Government from having to spend over 6 billion pounds on the
artificial ones that they need to replace them.
So together with Sky Ocean Rescue throughout 2021 we’ll be campaigning
for ocean recovery as the foundation
for the next decade. Inspiring millions to become Ocean Heroes
and take a real action to save our ocean.
The goal of the Ocean Hero campaign is to show that we can all make an impact on such a big issue.
From the placard painters, to the zero wasters, the refillers,
and the do it laters. We all have a role to play,
and we can all make a difference.
To become an Ocean Hero head to the
website linked in our video description.
We hope you found this video informative. Please like it if you did,
and if you want to learn more about the ocean,
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