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.

About Us

The WCS Marine Conservation Program brings together experts in field-based applied science, policy, and finance to design and implement innovative ocean solutions globally.

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Strategy

We focus on saving wildlife and wild places through a combination of credible science, practical management, applicable policy and by engaging and inspiring people to value nature

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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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