The world climate summit, which has otherwise had little success so far, has now produced some genuinely positive news:
Many will recall the images of hundreds of fishing trawlers just outside the 200-mile zone of the Galápagos Islands in July 2020. At that time, there were 260 industrial vessels, Chinese fishing trawlers, resembling floating cities with fuel and factory ships in tow. They lie in wait for the protected shark populations just outside the marine protected areas in the Pacific, until the holds of the ships are filled with sharks and fish. This occurrence is repeated annually.
For months, the four coastal nations of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador, to which the Galápagos Archipelago belongs, have been negotiating. They have now announced their joint success on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow;
An immense marine protected area named the "Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor", abbreviated as CMAR, is being established, covering an area of more than 500,000 km² (larger than the combined land area of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).
Industrial fishing is to be prohibited there, completely stripping international fishing fleets of their legitimacy. It remains to be hoped that highly advanced surveillance systems and the political will of the participating states will effectively monitor and enforce these regulations, ensuring consistent marine conservation. This establishes a migratory corridor in the ocean through which sea turtles, whales, tuna, rays, squid, hammerhead sharks (Sphyrnidae), and other species can move undisturbed.
Sources:
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/galapagos-china-naturschutz-streit-1.4983449
https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/uno-klimakonferenz-ecuador-kolumbien-costa-rica-und-panama-gruenden-riesiges-meeresschutzgebiet-a-66b9e3ee-33b9-41b4-b5a1-8e89beb60fdf
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/02/four-latin-american-countries-join-protected-marine-reserves-to-create-mega-mpa
