Irlande, Nouvelle-Zélande (ONLY ONE) : Big WINS for penguins & puffins & more!

 

It's a summer of celebration over here, dear friend! The reason for the season? This community helped power two major, hemisphere-spanning wins over the last month alone.  First, in Ireland, the government published the long-promised first piece of the legislative process for a Marine Protected Areas Bill, at last paving the way for a law that will protect the ecosystems that sustain puffins, basking sharks, razorbills, and more.  We can confidently say that this major milestone would not have happened, when it happened, without the advocacy and public pressure driven by this community—all of you who joined the Rally for Ireland's Seas, the more than 86,000 of you who signed the petition, and the more than 2,000 of you who mobilized this month to send the Taoiseach/Prime Minister and other decision-makers a message calling for no further delays.  And nearly 12,000 miles away, off of a volcanic peninsula on the other side of the planet, a puffin lookalike welcomed long-term protections. The rare and critically endangered hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, no longer risks drowning in set-nets as it dives for food, now that New Zealand's government has announced a permanent ban on set-net fishing around the Otago Peninsula. WWF-New Zealand and the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust have been campaigning to strengthen protections for hoiho for years, boosted by the more than 5,000 New Zealanders of this community who directly contacted government ministers to share their concerns. As we celebrate these wins together and recognize what it took to get here, let's recognize too that these are the first steps of many more to come.  In Ireland, a lengthy debate lies ahead. Our partners at Fair Seas are evaluating the proposals as they come and working with us to determine how best to activate the public to ensure that the final legislation is as robust and effective as we know it must be.   In New Zealand, hoiho are still facing down the threats of climate change, disease, and collapsing food stocks. Protecting them means protecting the wider ocean they depend on through marine protected areas and better-managed fisheries.  So we'll need your help again soon.  In the meantime, you can carry the momentum forward by powering the next big victories for the ocean:  Tell New Zealand to go even further to protect at least 30% of its waters and phase out bottom trawling in vulnerable habitats.   Head north of Ireland to protect the heart of the Arctic: the Central Arctic Ocean.  ​ Thank you for continuing to take action for our shared blue world,  The Only One Team. We have only one planet and only one ocean, and there is only one way to do this: Together. Connect with us!