29 CONSERVE AND SUSTAINABLY USE OUR OCEANS, SEAS AND MARINE RESOURCES
Oceans, coastal zones and marine resources are essential to human well-being, as well as social and economic prosperity worldwide. Beyond humankind, oceans support over 200,000 identified species and countless other species that have yet to be discovered. Keeping our oceans clean and healthy is in our best interests because they help protect our drinking water, weather, climate, food and oxygen. Managing the impact of trade and transportation means increasing international cooperation to protect vulnerable habitats, invest in sustainable industry practices, and address wasteful habits.
Learning Objectives
- Learners will understand the basics of our marine ecosystem, threats to its well-being and our connection to the sea and the life it holds.
- Learners will understand the role of climate change on our oceans, and the role oceans play in moderating the effects of climate change.
- Learners will be able to identify the need for sustainable fishing practices and the impact humankind is having on the health of our oceans.
- Learners will be able to research their country’s relationship to the sea and debate improvements to sustainable methods of collecting natural resources.
- Learners will be able to identify and advocate for improved access to sustainably harvested marine life, marine conservation and the development of scientific marine research.
Essential Questions
Media (Identification of Value/Biases):
What are some important considerations for reporting on stories of marine sustainability?
Environment
How does marine conservation differ from other environmental issues?
Poverty, wealth and power
How are different populations affected when environmental protection is not a priority?
Indigenous Peoples
How are Indigenous communities protecting and advocating for our ocean environments? How are they uniquely affected by its degradation?
Oppression and genocide
What happens to environmental protection during times of genocide and conflict?
Health and biotechnology
How does the health of our ocean environments affect the health of all global citizens?
Gender politics
How is the health of our oceans related to gender issues?
Social justice and human rights
How are people advocating for the protection and conservation of our oceans, seas and marine resources?
Peace and conflict
What conflicts have occurred, or are ongoing, regarding the protection of our oceans and their resources?
Overview of The Goal
Everyone deserves to lives in a world where all life that exists below water – from the smallest mollusk in the smallest stream to the largest blue whale in the vastest ocean – can live in a clean, healthy ecosystem.
The plants and animals that live in the water are important for all life on Earth. Plankton, the tiny life-forms that call our oceans home play a big part in keeping Earth’s atmosphere healthy. They generate lots of oxygen, which makes up the air we breathe. 3 billion people –almost half the planet – rely on fish for food.
Sustainable Development Goal #14: Life Below Water, focuses on the importance of keeping the world’s oceans clean and healthy as part of a sustainable future. As part of this initiative, the UN’s Ocean Conference will take place June 5-9, 2017, to coincide with World Oceans Day. These events bring together advocates, diplomats and organizations from all over the world to work together on achieving SDG 14. We’ll tell you later on in the course how you and your students can get involved in these events!
Consider these facts from the UN about life below water:
More than three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.
Oceans absorb about 30 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.
Oceans serve as the world’s largest source of protein, with more than three billion people depending on the oceans as their primary source of protein.
Source: National Geographic
Learning Activities
PBS: Saving the Ocean: Carl Safina
http://chedd-angier.com/savingtheocean/
https://www.pbs.org/show/saving-the-ocean/
SAVING THE OCEAN is not just another doom-and-gloom TV show; it’s about people solving problems. The news is grim: overfishing, pollution, coral reef troubles, and on and on. These problems are spread all over the two-thirds of the globe that is ocean. But a far-flung group of unsung heroes – scientists, conservationists, local communities – are hard at work inventing, advocating, and implementing solutions.
Apple Podcast: The Future of Our Oceans (Gresham College Lectures)
Recent evidence about the extent of plastics and litter in our oceans has led to grassroots rejection of single-use plastics. A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade will outline ways that we can work to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” in the face of unsustainable consumption and production and rapidly changing climate. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/future-of-oceans
Apps: 7 Award-Winning Apps Launch a Mobile Age for the Ocean Economy
Website for Research: Ocean Life Eats Tons of Plastic—Here’s Why That Matters from National Geographic
Website for Research: Eight Awe-Inspiring Ocean Discoveries in 2017
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/12/26/eight-awe-inspiring-ocean-discoveries-in-2017
Website for Research: 10 Things You Can Do to Save the Ocean
Website for Research: Submerge Yourself in Google’s Stunning Underwater Street Views
https://www.good.is/articles/google-street-view-underwater-national-oceans-day
THE OCEAN: The ocean is the origin and the engine of all life on this planet — and it is under threat
https://www.conservation.org/priorities/oceans
Website for Research: Clean Seas: Turn the Tide on Plastic Website
Websites for Research: Young Ocean Innovators
Check out a few of the stories below of young people taking action to make a difference in their world. While you explore their stories, keep in mind the kinds of global competencies and academic skills these young people needed in order to accomplish what they did.
Meet the 19-Year-Old With a 10-Year Plan to Clean Half the Pacific Ocean
SU Alumna Helps Invent Cora Ball to Prevent Fibers from Entering Ocean
One Boy’s Innovation Saves Dolphins Using Tennis Ball Containers
Children Clean Mona Vale Beach to Save Sea Animals
Middle School Students campaign for “Straw Free MV”
Students Support and Speak in Favor of Plastic Bag Ban in Middletown
Further Research and Activities
https://www.globalgoals.org/14-life-below-water
Assessment and Reflection
Reflection Journal
- Describe the learning activities (articles, videos, etc.) and your experience – What did you do/hear/see?
- Interpret and evaluate the events from your perspective – What do I think about it now? How does it relate to other things that I know?
- Explain your experience; reveal your new insights, connections with other learning, your hypotheses, and your conclusions.
- Reflect on how this information will be useful to you – What questions do I have? Have I changed how I think about the situation? Where do I go from here?
- What did you particularly value and why?
- Is there anything you would do in the next unit? What have you learned? What will you do with these lessons?
Renewable Assignment Options
Reduce, reuse, recycle. We need to manage our plastic waste, along with other pollutants, that end up in our oceanic ecosystems. Our plastic production needs reassessment, but in the meantime we need to clean up the mess we’ve made by making sure we properly dispose of our waste. Cut up the plastic rings that hold cans together, so that if they find their way into our watery ecosystems we can prevent marine life from becoming stuck or injured.
Use fewer plastic products. Try to bring your own reusable bottles, cutlery, and bags to reduce the amount of plastic waste thrown away. Limit micro-plastics commonly found in clothes, and only buy clothes when you need them. Refuse to buy products with microbeads, such as some toothpastes and facewashes, as these beads can end up in water systems.
Volunteer clean up. Keeping your local waterways clear of trash is a great way to stop pollution in our oceans downstream. Work with your local government, community leaders and businesses to avoid plastic that is detrimental to our oceans and waterways.
Get creative. Innovation can fuel a conservation and recycling revolution. Put your thinking cap on and bounce around a couple of ideas for compostable product wrappers, or maybe an ingenious ocean cleaning mobile.
Join a movement. Write your local government representatives and tell them why marine conservation and protection is so important to your future and the future of our planet. It doesn’t matter where you are, the health of our oceans affects each and every one of us.
Buy seafood sustainably. As a consumer, you influence the seafood industry with your money so make sure your money is representing your values in protecting our waters. Download the SeaChoice App and learn how to make the best choices at your grocery store and restaurants.
Bring the Yellow Fish Road campaign to your community. Simple tasks that use water such as bathing your dog, changing your oil and making a garden can all create water pollution through the build-up of grease, oil, soaps and fertilizers. The Yellow Fish Road campaign encourages people to pause and think about what we are putting into our water supply by painting yellow fish on storm drains.
Participate in a campaign. Take part in the Give Water a Hand campaign and help solve real water problems in your own community. Download their guides and get started by completing a checklist. Map a watershed, connect with a local expert, find a local service project and take action.
Host a documentary screening. Show your class or community why protecting our life under water is crucial for our planet’s survival. Watch films such as Mission Blue or Oceans and let the imagery speak for itself.
