Oceans
WCS's Marine Program envisions a world where marine wildlife thrives in healthy seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on Earth.
Themes
The program is structured around five thematic initiatives, ranging from strongholds to vital marine species and the habitats on which communities depend.
Area-Based Conservation
WCS ensures that Marine Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures are equitable, created where needed, and sufficiently resourced and effectively managed.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse strongholds of nature in the world—on land or at sea. Millions of people depend on them, yet they are seriously impacted by a wide range of anthropogenic threats.
Ocean Giants
Marine mammals are some of the most iconic marine species and hold keystone positions in marine ecosystems that could be irrevocably damaged in their absence.
Sharks & Rays
Sharks and rays are one of the most endangered species groups in the world with over 30% categorized as threatened with extinction.
Small-Scale Fisheries
Small-scale fisheries provide livelihoods for more than 100 million women and men and food and crucial nutrients for over four billion, over one billion of whom are low-income.
Where We Work
We have marine programs in 12 of 14 WCS priority regions across 26 countries, spanning tropical, temperate and subpolar seas, in areas that are biodiverse, functional, resilient, intact, and of high ecological integrity.
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