Assessing the health of the world’s ocean

Embargoed

An Ocean Health Index to assess global marine social-ecological systemsHalpern et al. in press, Nature

Ocean Health Index:A healthy ocean sustainably delivers a range of benefits to people, now

and in the future

FOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONARTISANAL FISHING ARTISANAL FISHING

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIESARTISANAL FISHING ARTISANAL FISHING

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIES

NATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTS

CARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECOASTAL COASTAL

PROTECTIONPROTECTIONCOASTAL COASTAL

PROTECTIONPROTECTION

SENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACE

CLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERS

BIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY

TOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATION

LIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIES

PRESENTREFERENCE

CURRENTSTATUS

LIKELYFUTURE

TREND

PRESSURES

RESILIENCE

+

FOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONFOOD PROVISIONARTISANAL FISHING ARTISANAL FISHING

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIESARTISANAL FISHING ARTISANAL FISHING

OPPORTUNITIESOPPORTUNITIES

NATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTSNATURAL PRODUCTS

CARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECARBON STORAGECOASTAL COASTAL

PROTECTIONPROTECTIONCOASTAL COASTAL

PROTECTIONPROTECTION

SENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACESENSE OF PLACE

CLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERSCLEAN WATERS

BIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITYBIODIVERSITY

TOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATIONTOURISM & RECREATION

LIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIESLIVELIHOODS & ECONOMIES

Functional relationships:now vs. the ideal

Maximum sustainable yield multispecies MSY

Worm et al. 2009 Science

Food provision: fisheries

Current

Time series:now vs. then

Change in mangrove areal extent

Carbon storage

Time series:now vs. then

Change in mangrove areal extent

Carbon storage

Spatial comparisons:now vs. there

Data from FAO

Food provision: mariculture

Spatial comparisons:now vs. there

Worse BetterWorse Better

Livelihoods: wages

Marine wages

Established state:now vs. a precedent

Sense of place: lasting special places

Reference points for the global analysis

First Global Assessment

• 171 countries/territories

• All waters within EEZs

• >100 data layers

Some key messages/results

1. Index provides a portfolio perspective

2. Sustainability fundamental to, and operationalized in, the Index

3. Human benefits central to Index

4. Different perspectives incorporated

Portfolio Perspective: many ways to get a score

*

AO = Artisanal Opportunity FIS = Fisheries MAR = MaricultureNP = Natural ProductsCS = Carbon StorageCP = Coastal ProtectionTR = Tourism & Recreation LIV = Livelihoods ECO = Economies ICO = Iconid Species LSP = Lasting Special Places HAB = Habitats SPP = SpeciesCW = Clean Waters

FP

LE

SP

BD

Portfolio Perspective: many ways to get a score

AO = Artisanal Opportunity FIS = Fisheries MAR = MaricultureNP = Natural ProductsCS = Carbon StorageCP = Coastal ProtectionTR = Tourism & Recreation LIV = Livelihoods ECO = Economies ICO = Iconid Species LSP = Lasting Special Places HAB = Habitats SPP = SpeciesCW = Clean Waters

FP

LE

SP

BD

Portfolio Perspective: many ways to get a score

AO = Artisanal Opportunity FIS = Fisheries MAR = MaricultureNP = Natural ProductsCS = Carbon StorageCP = Coastal ProtectionTR = Tourism & Recreation LIV = Livelihoods ECO = Economies ICO = Iconid Species LSP = Lasting Special Places HAB = Habitats SPP = SpeciesCW = Clean Waters

FP

LE

SP

BD

Sustainability: future state

Artisanal OpportunityFood ProvisionNatural ProductsCarbon StorageCoastal ProtectionTourism & RecreationLivelihoods & EconomiesSense of Place BiodiversityClean Waters

0

25

50

75

100

0 25 50 75 100

Current State

Fu

ture

Sta

te

Accounting for different perspectives: weighting goals by value sets

• People care about different aspects of the ocean

• These differences are really important to understand and capture if management is to be effective

All goals are presumed equally important

Extractive goals are presumed more important

OHI: Science to Action

Summary

• Transparent, quantitative, ‘divable’, scalable, flexible, responsive, synthetic, target-driven, best available information