James Ellsmoor is the founder and CEO of Island Innovation, a global network that connects island communities through digital communication and programming. Events like the Virtual Island Summit allow rural communities, organizations, and island stakeholders to connect in ways they wouldnʻt otherwise.
Read MoreHosted and facilitated by Big Ocean, this 2-day virtual gathering aims to share lessons learned and to address the priority needs of managers and teams working on-the-ground globally. Registration using Big Ocean’s Eventbrite page is required and will give you access to the recordings if you are not able to attend the live session.
Read MoreAlan Friedlander has been studying the world’s oceans for 35 years. He’s spent 10,000 hours below the surface – in Tonga, Hawaii, the Arctic. Almost anywhere with a body of water. His experiences in the Pacific led him to the University of Hawai’i where he received his Ph.D. and eventually went on to not only teach, but become Director of Fisheries Ecology Research Laboratory.
Read MoreTo celebrate 10-years of “thinking big,” the network has chosen to create a podcast series called How To Save and Ocean.The show celebrates and amplifies the work of a wide array of colleagues, practitioners, and partners as well as all-around ocean lovers to share messages of change, hope and innovation so that we can better care for our lands and waters. Many of the guests have also been instrumental in Big Ocean’s development.
Read MoreWhen Big Ocean launched as a network on 6 December 2010, the founding six sites represented all of the established, Large-Scale MPAs (LSMPA) globally at that time. These sites collectively represented the beginnings of what is now a legitimate and vital genre of marine conservation. "Ultimately, the management teams' willingness at these early-adopter sites to dream big and innovate has pushed the growth of the field globally," said network coordinator Naiʻa Lewis.
Read MoreDecember 4, 2020, marks the 20th anniversary of establishing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (NWHICRER), which sought to preserve the near-pristine lands and waters of the most remote 3/4 of the most isolated archipelago on Earth. Given legal standing in 2000, by U.S. President William Clinton, the Reserve is the predecessor to Papahānaumokuāklea Marine National Monument, established with contiguous boundaries in 2006 by President Bush George W. Bush.
Read MoreIn parallel with celebrating 50 years of Earth Day, we must also recognize important marine conservation efforts, namely the emergent field of Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas (LSMPA), which came onto the scene in 2000, when the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was joined by the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve.
Read MoreBig Ocean will be celebrating 10-years of successful peer-learning across and among the world’s largest marine managed areas in 2020. Our celebratory events will begin in Marseille, France, in conjunction with the 2020 IUCN World Conservation Congress.
Read MoreImagine an underwater mountain covered with forests, corals, sponges , anemones, acting simultaneously as a shelter against currents, a breeding ground, a rest area and a food larder for multiple species…
Read MoreBig Ocean was honored to attend a talk on Climate Change featuring His Excellency, Anote Tong, former President of The Republic of Kiribati.
Read MoreJacqueline Evans, lead manager for Marae Moana–the Cook Islands Marine Protected Area–has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Award for 2019.
Read MoreStory Maps are a unique interactive tools that help people understand, through virtual experience, geographic land or seascapes within a digital environment. This post features a Story Map entitled Historical & Cultural Seascape of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
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