Model and Strategy
The Cocos-Galapagos Swimway project will create the first marine protected wildlife corridor connecting two of the most important biodiverse hotspots in the Eastern Tropical Pacific – Galapagos Marine Reserve and Cocos Island National Park. This Swimway enables protection of species that migrate beyond the safety of either country’s National Park, including endangered sea turtles and sharks species that continually face threats from intense industrial fishing and longline vessels that place tens of millions of hooks in the Pacific each year.
By creating a 240,000 square kilometer Marine Protected Area, we will not only facilitate the protection of these endangered sea turtles, sharks, and whales, but will reduce illegal fishing activities, increase fish stock resilience, promote sustainable fishing, foster technological innovation in open water management, and improve international cooperation. All of which are beneficial for our marine ecosystems and the Galapagos and Cocos Islands National Parks, which are crucial to the economies, communities and people of Costa Rica and Ecuador.
The Cocos–Galapagos Swimway is an innovative and strategic project that directly protects pathways of migratory species, which require protection beyond the boundaries of marine reserves.
Impact
The Cocos-Galapagos Swimway is an inspiring project to consolidate the protection of two important biodiversity ‘Hot Spots’ and provide critically needed protections to highly migratory endangered marine species. This project will:
1. Create a 240,000 square kilometer Marine Protected Area
2. Protect a suite of critically endangered species including sea turtles and sharks
3. Create the first bi-national Marine Protected Area for highly migratory species
4. Provide legal instruments for managing a multi-national Marine Protected Area
5. Demonstrate the need and model for protecting highly migratory species
6. Create a “laboratory” to test cutting-edge technologies to monitor and enforce Marine Protected Areas
Indirect project impacts that may be realized as a result of the Swimway and TIRN’s project include:
1. Encourages other nations of the Eastern Pacific Seascape Initiative to create additional “swimways” linking MPAs of Colombia and Panama and Cocos and Galapagos to protect migratory species
2. Establish a precedent for creating MPAs that protect species on their migratory route in other parts of the world
3. Establish a precedent for linking MPAs of neighboring sovereign nations and creating a legal template for management
4. Increased resilience of commercial fish stocks
5. Technological innovation in the fields of open water management, bycatch reduction, and biological and oceanographic research
6. Promotion of sustainable fishing practices and increased share of benefits for artisanal fishermen
7. Showing leadership on a global level in the development of bilateral marine conservation actions
8. Enforcing the sovereignty of Ecuador and Costa Rica in Exclusive Economic Zones as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Leadership
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Todd Steiner
Executive Director