海洋不僅需要拯救，還需要投資

經濟繁榮離不開健康的海洋。海洋對于我們的日常生活有著巨大的價值，維系著數百億美元的漁業產業和千百萬個工業崗位；海洋里的礁盤和紅樹林保護著各種生物群落免受暴風雨的沖擊；海洋還吸引并存儲有害的碳排放。拋開有關商業與大自然的古老爭論，我們知道，經濟的增長有賴于健康的海洋。

好消息是，我們看到近些年來，全球加大了保護這些生命能量來源的力度。全球大約有4%的海洋面積處于正式的保護區內。然而，為了確保海洋能持續造福人類，僅僅設立保護區還是不夠的。我們對海洋必須要有長遠的投資。

在印度尼西亞的西巴布亞地區，當地和國際的環境保護者正聯手建立地球最大的單一海洋生命保護區。這片藍色的世外桃源名叫鳥首海區（Bird’s Head Seascape），里面生活著超過1,800種熱帶魚和全球四分之三的硬珊瑚品種。這片海域供養著數百個海島上的居民社區，一度面臨被徹底破壞的風險。

這片地區的珊瑚礁曾經受到過度捕撈和炸藥炸魚等破壞性手段的侵害，一項有當地社區、印度尼西亞政府等數十家合作機構和組織參與的12年計劃挽救了它。該合作計劃培訓了2,000名巴布亞人，從事管理工作及反盜獵活動，使外來盜獵者的非法捕撈行為減少了90%，當地漁業的生產效率顯著增加。

但海洋保護區的建立不代表著一切已經結束，而是剛剛開始。

沒有管理計劃或預算的海洋保護區差不多是徒具形式。沒有用于確保管理和監督的財力有可能讓這些海域發揮不出滋養海洋生物的潛力，更別于扶持當地依賴海洋獲取食物和收入的無數經濟體了。

藍色阿巴迪基金（Blue Abadi Fund）旨在通過向當地社區和機構提供捐款，以可持續的方式管理海洋資源，使鳥首海區得到永遠的保護。本月，相關合作組織宣布，我們已經為基金募集到3,800萬美元目標捐款當中的2,300萬美元。當全額資金到位時，它將成為世界最大的海洋保護專項基金。

現在，鳥首海區將由當地社區常年管理。當地人的生活和生計離不開這片晶瑩的海水，他們比其他任何人都了解它，有了足夠的資金，就能夠確保他們的成功。

對于這個獨一無二的地方來說，這是一個充滿希望的未來。但對所有海洋來說，給真正的可持續保護制定一條路線只是第一步。我們需要向那些身處海洋保護前沿的社區提供更多的支持。只有這樣，我們才能看到投資改善海洋健康所帶來的回報。

這是我們必須共同承擔的冒險，因為健康的海洋讓我們所有人從中獲益。（財富中文網）

羅伯?沃爾頓是沃爾頓家族基金會（Walton Family Foundation）的環境委員會主席。彼得?塞利曼是保護國際基金會（Conservation International）的董事長兼首席執行官。

譯者：Ty

Economies need healthy oceans in order to thrive. Oceans provide enormous value to our everyday lives. They support billion-dollar fisheries and millions of jobs. Their reefs and mangroves protect communities from storms. And the oceans absorb and store harmful carbon emissions. Far from the old debate of business versus nature, we know that a growing economy depends on healthy oceans.

The good news is that in recent years, we have seen a surge in global efforts to protect these engines of life. Some 4 percent of the world’s oceans are now within formally protected areas. However, to ensure that the oceans can continue to provide for us, it is not enough to create protected areas. We must invest in them for the long run.

In the West Papua region of Indonesia, a partnership of local and international conservationists has done just that for the single greatest reservoir of ocean life on the planet. Known as the Bird’s Head Seascape, this blue Shangri-La is home to more than 1,800 species of reef fish and three-quarters of the world’s hard coral species. The area supports hundreds of island communities, and it was once at risk of being lost forever.

Beset by overfishing and destructive practices — such as dynamite fishing — the region’s coral reefs were saved by a 12-year initiative involving scores of partner agencies and organizations, including the local community and government of Indonesia. The partnership trained 2,000 Papuans in stewardship and anti-poaching activities, resulting in a 90 percent drop in illegal fishing by outside poachers and a significant increase in the productivity of local fisheries.

But the creation of a marine protected area is never an end in itself. In fact, it is only the beginning.

A marine reserve without a management plan or a budget can amount to little more than a paper park. Lacking the finances to ensure proper management and monitoring can cause these areas to fall short of their potential for actually sustaining marine life, to say nothing of the countless local economies that depend on those waters for their food and income.

The Blue Abadi Fund aims to protect the Bird’s Head Seascape forever by providing grants to local communities and agencies to sustainably manage their marine resources. This month, the partner organizations are announcing that, we have raised US$ 23 million mark of our US$ 38 million goal for the fund. When fully capitalized, it will be the largest dedicated marine conservation fund in the world.

Now, the Bird’s Head Seascape is going to be stewarded in perpetuity by local communities — the very people whose lives and livelihoods depend on these crystalline waters, and who know them better than anyone else — with enough money to ensure their success.

It’s a promising future for this unique place. But it’s only the first step in setting a course for truly sustainable protection for all our oceans. We need more support for the communities on the front lines of ocean conservation. Only then will we see a return on our investment in the form of improved ocean health.

This is a venture we must undertake together. Because when the ocean is healthy, we all benefit.

Rob Walton chairs the environment committee of the Walton Family Foundation. Peter Seligmann is the chairman and CEO of Conservation International.