Greenpeace Australia Pacific recently visited Lord Howe Island as part of its work to protect the global ocean, where the organisation aims to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030.
Greenpeace is seeking to do this by encouraging governments around the world to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty, to which Australia is a signatory.
Violette Snow, Senior Ocean Campaigner, said “In order to see Australia play its part, we need to see not only the oceans within Australia’s jurisdiction, but also the high seas surrounding Australia, to be protected as well.”
“Lord Howe Island is a gateway to the high seas. The Island rises to the surface as a jewel in the crown of the Lord Howe Rise seamount chain, and is a fantastic place to learn about the rich biodiversity of the Tasman Sea.”
“Our campaign aims to see the international waters of the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand protected under the new United Nations Ocean Treaty which world governments are bringing into law right now.”
Connected to Lord Howe Island, Lord Howe Rise is a globally significant area, home to hundreds of species — many of which are new to science — and towering seamounts, important bird feeding grounds and shark nurseries.
While on the Island, the Greenpeace team worked closely with Aaron and the team at Dive Lord Howe, interviewed Dean Hiscox and Ian Hutton, and were deeply grateful for the generosity of many locals – especially the wonderful accommodation owners and staff at Somerset Apartments, Leanda Lei and Broken Banyan for their hospitality.
“We really wanted to hear from the local community, to learn more about what makes this place so special, and what they value about living here. From the cloud forest to the seamounts at the bottom of the ocean floor, we were blown away by the love that locals have for this precious place.”
Greenpeace also brought along marine biologist and seamount expert, Katrina Goddard, to better understand the rich diversity and hidden world beneath the waves on the seamounts around Lord Howe Island.
Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea are high seas biodiversity hotspots, essential for life in our local oceans including seabirds, sharks, dolphins, whales and a huge diversity of fish.
Because of its important biodiversity, scientists have listed the area as one of three critical marine areas for priority protection.
“The ocean is one interconnected body of water, sharing currents, nutrients, habitats, and migratory corridors between Australia and New Zealand. However, these global oceans, which flow into Australia’s territorial waters, are under threat from industrial fishing, pollution and climate change.”
The ocean outside national borders covers around 230 million square kilometres: bigger than every continent combined. Greenpeace is calling on the Australian government to propose creating one of the world’s first international ocean sanctuaries in the Tasman Sea.