Our Work

The IUCN Global Marine Programme's work is organised below under eight broad themes. As some of our work cuts across these themes, some project work may feature under more than one theme.

Bleached coral on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation

  • Coral reef monitoring
  • Research
  • Resilience network
  • Ocean fertilisation and other geo-engineering issues

Kenyan school children learn about sea life on IUCN-CORDIO field trip

Coastal Livelihoods

  • Sustainable resource use and management
  • Increasing and promoting resilience and adaptive capacity in coastal communities

Tail fin of Western Gray Whale

Conserving Threatened Species

GMP's programme of activities under this theme include:

  • Convening of the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel;
  • Addressing trade in threatened marine species
  • Improve shark conservation, particularly through development of National and Regional Plans of Action
  • Support to the IUCN Speices Survival Commission (SSC)

Oil and gas platform, Gulf of Mexico

Energy & Industry

  • Implementing ecologically sustainable, equitable and efficient energy systems in the marine environment
  • Shipping
  • Offshore oil and gas
  • Aquaculture and mariculture
  • Biodiversity offsets

Orange roughy haul with related by-catch

Fisheries & Aquaculture

GMP's programme of activities on this theme includes work on :

  • Fisheries governance
  • Certification
  • Sustainable Aquaculture
  • Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing
  • Corruption in fisheries

Invasive jellyfish impact on fisheries

Managing Marine Invasive Species

  • Projects and fieldwork on the detection and management of marine alien invasive species
  • Policy work to increase international regulations to manage marine species introductions through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity

Divers admire groupers and sharks in a Caribbean Marine Protected Area

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

  • Work with the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) & Regional Coordinators, in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, WWF and NOAA/National Marine Sanctuaries
  • Development of MPA tools (e.g. MPA managers toolkit and training)
  • Research
  • Development of MPA networks

Trawler, Hobart harbour, Australia

Ocean Governance

GMP's programme of activities under this theme includes work on:

  • Legal framework for areas beyond national jurisdiction;
  • Sustainable use of the high and deep seas;
  • Work through policy channels and institutions to strengthen conservation priorities (UNCLOS, IMO, ISA, UNFSA, CITES, RFMOs, Regional Seas, etc.)
  • Marine spatial planning;
  • Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) governance
  • Southern Ocean and Antarctica
  • Marine pollution and ocean dumping

(For fisheries governance issues, please see Fisheries & Aquaculture section)

Marine Programme