The ocean is home to 80% of life on Earth, as well as helping regulate the Earth’s climate and atmosphere and providing millions of people with food and cultural benefits. Over 17,000 Marine Protected Areas¹ have been designated, representing 7.5% of the ocean surface, including areas of the Coral Triangle, the global centre of marine biodiversity.  These areas are crucial to sustain not just ocean life, but all life on our planet.

But, every year an estimated 4-12 million tonnes² of plastic pollution is going into our ocean. Over 700 marine species are known to encounter plastic litter in the marine environment³, marine life from invertebrates, such as zooplankton and corals, to fish, turtles, seabirds and mammals including sea lions, whales and dolphins. Plastic in our ocean knows no boundaries, and drifts towards the most sensitive of ocean zones.

The BluHope campaign aims to educate our citizens of all ages why we must protect our ocean, and inspire and empower communities globally to take the steps needed to stop plastic pollution. Consumer awareness and behaviour change, reducing packaging and improving product design, and with new advancing technologies are all needed to create a plastic neutral circular economy to stop plastic waste going into our environment and ocean.

Join BluHope to drive that change, to help protect our precious ocean from plastic pollution.

Photo : Alex Lindbloom
1  Protected planet https://www.protectedplanet.net/marine
2 Jambeck, J et al (2015) Science 347 768-71
3  Brighty, GC and Thompson RC Eds. Defra Marine Plastic Pollution Evidence Review 2020

BluHope’s focal area is the Coral Triangle, encompassing some of the World’s most biodiverse marine environments

On 8^th June, World Oceans Day, BluHope launched its 5-day campaign with a programme of announcements, webinars with celebrities and scientists, fun activities for children and powerful films that tell the stories of the Coral Triangle – this most special of blue places.

The Coral Triangle, lying between Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, has the highest coral diversity in the world with 76% of the world’s coral species and more coral reef fish than anywhere else in the world.

Whales, dolphins, porpoises, the endangered dugong and six of the world’s seven marine turtle species make this one of the marine biodiverse areas.  It is literally biodiversity central!

However, whilst 12 million hectares of the Coral Triangle are marine protected areas, these are still under threat particularly from plastic pollution that drifts in ocean currents from communities far away.