By Obiabin Onukwugha
As the United Nations marks the World Ocean Day, environmental bodies have emphasised the need for the protection of oceans in order to sustain the planet.
They said the ocean is one vast body of water with various faces. It accounts for approximately 71 percent of the Earth and plays significant roles in environmental and climate systems, and more broadly, in life on Earth.
They also noted that beyond its diverse faces—Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern—the ocean is connected to and interacts with other comparatively smaller surface water bodies, such as seas, gulfs, bays, lagoons, estuaries, and groundwater systems.
In a statement to mark the World Ocean Day on Sunday, the bodies pointed out that ocean ecosystems supply a substantial amount of oxygen to the atmosphere and offer various services that ensure the survival of all species on Earth.
“As the world observes World Ocean Day with the theme “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us,” it is time for humans to reflect on our exploitative, violent, and destructive relationship with the ocean and embrace a new beginning” .the statement.noted.
Executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, in the statement, highlighted the importance of World Ocean Day, which is celebrated annually on 8 June to underscore the immeasurable importance of the world’s ocean and garner support for their protection. He stated that the ocean and other water bodies are continuously subjected to a barrage of assaults at local, national, and international levels.
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He said: “The concept that the ocean cycles itself and acts as a greenhouse gas sink has been misconstrued to mean that the ocean can filter and clean itself no matter what is dumped in it. The ocean and other waterbodies have become dumpsites of all sorts, polluting and extreme exploitation.
“There are a lot of unusual activities going on in our waters that must not be allowed to continue if we want a healthy ocean and planet.”
Bassey further stated that “corporate interests have been substituted for national and people-centred interests, as communities that live along the coasts, bear the brunt of such abnormalities. Now is the time for all to rise to the occasion to protect the ocean.
The continued burning of the Ororo Oil well over a period of five years is a sad commentary on ecocide on our waters.”
Also, Stephen Oduware, Programme Manager with HOMEF and Coordinator of the Fishnet Alliance, a network of fishers across Africa, emphatically noted that the world’s fisheries depend on the ocean.
“The two major sides of the ocean bordering Africa – the Atlantic and Indian, along with their associated gulfs, are experiencing shortfalls in fishing due to vested and powerful interests. Industrial fishing, including the use of bottom trawlers, is partly responsible for unsustainable fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the region.
“These practices not only harm fisheries but also harm the ocean and create imbalances in the ecosystems the ocean supports. These unchecked activities in the territorial waters of Africa must stop. Fishers of the world unite,” he stated
Climate change, primarily caused by human activities, is impacting the ocean. Dead zones are proliferating, pollution from minerals and fossil fuel extraction and production processes is occurring, unsustainable industrial fishing practices are occurring, intentional waste dumping is occurring, and disturbances of the ocean floor and seabeds are among a long list of destructive activities.
As ocean surface temperatures increase, global warming will also rise. Therefore, protecting the ocean from these forms of degradation would ultimately safeguard the Earth. Let’s protect the ocean and force others to respect it because we are the ocean; we are part of the ocean family.
