Our Work

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Our Work

Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy supports the creation and expansion of marine protected areas (MPAs) that qualify as highly or fully protected, meaning extractive activities such as fishing, drilling, and mining are restricted. The partnership also seeks to establish connections between MPAs to conserve areas and corridors that marine life relies on for breeding and migration, and to help communities strengthen connections to the ecosystems they depend on. Currently, the partnership’s work focuses primarily on four regions: the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Southern Ocean and sub-Antarctic islands, and the Western Pacific Ocean.

Since 2017, the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy’s work has contributed to the designation or expansion of Ecuador’s Hermandad Marine Reserve; Mexico’s Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park; National Nature Reserve of the French Southern Territories; the Natural Park of the Coral Sea in New Caledonia; Rapa Nui Multiple Use Marine Coastal Protected Area in Chile; Australia’s Christmas Island Marine Park and Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park; and, in the waters of U.K. overseas territories, the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area, Ascension Island Marine Protected Area, and Tristan da Cunha Marine Protection Zone.

Baja
Baja

Baja California's Pacific and the Sea of Cortez

The nutrient-rich waters of the Pacific Ocean attract marine life and people to an epicenter of biodiversity.

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The nutrient-rich waters of the Pacific Ocean off Baja California and the Sea of Cortez in Mexico attract marine life and people to an epicenter of biodiversity.

French Polynesia

The waters around French Polynesia are home to 21 species of sharks and an exceptional coral reef system that supports 176 coral and 1,024 fish species.

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The waters around French Polynesia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean, make up the world’s largest contiguous exclusive economic zone.

Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea covers less than 1% of the global ocean, yet it hosts one of the planet's greatest reservoirs of marine and coastal biodiversity.

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The Mediterranean Sea covers less than 1% of the global ocean, yet it hosts one of the planet's greatest reservoirs of marine and coastal biodiversity.

New Caledonia
New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is home to an incredible array of marine life, including more than 1,700 fish and 473 coral species, and one of the world’s largest lagoons.

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New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean, is home to an incredible array of marine life, including more than 1,700 species of fish and 473 species of coral. The waters of the territory’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) span 1.3 million square kilometers (501,932 square miles), within which lies one of the world’s largest lagoons.

Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean

Protecting Antarctica's Southern Ocean

Antarctica’s Southern Ocean is one of the world’s last great wilderness areas, surrounding the coldest, driest, windiest, and least altered continent.

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Antarctica’s Southern Ocean is one of the world’s last great wilderness areas, surrounding the coldest, driest, windiest, and least altered continent. The ocean’s frigid waters bustle with thousands of species found nowhere else, from brilliantly hued starfish and bioluminescent worms to pastel octopuses. Nutrients that well up from the icy depths are carried by currents great distances to nourish wildlife in faraway seas.

Global Ocean Legacy Easter Island
Global Ocean Legacy Easter Island

Rapa Nui

Easter Island's waters contain geological hot spots and areas of rare biodiversity. They are home to migratory fish species and feature seamounts ranging from 8.4 million to 13.1 million years old.

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Easter Island, a territory of Chile, is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean about 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) west of the Chilean mainland. Though still largely unexplored, Easter Island’s waters are known to contain geological hot spots and areas of rare biodiversity. The region is home to highly migratory fish species and features seamounts ranging from 8.4 million to 13.1 million years old.

Yellowtail surgeonfish (Prionurus laticlavius) school and starfish in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
Yellowtail surgeonfish (Prionurus laticlavius) school and starfish in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor

The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean encompasses the sovereign waters of Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama.

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The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean encompasses the sovereign waters of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama. These rich waters are characterized by an extraordinary number of endemic, native, and migratory species and feature key habitats for whales, tuna, rays, sea turtles, and birds, as well as the world’s highest concentrations of sharks.