With the support of Rolex, the ocean conservation organization moves to protect important breeding grounds for migratory animals.

Humpback whales and other ocean giants may soon be able to breed peacefully in the warm seas off Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula after the announcement of a Hope Spot by Mission Blue. Every year, the whales swim 10,000 km to the Central American country from Antarctica. They join other migratory animals such as hammerhead sharks, manta rays and sea turtles that currently face deadly hazards in Costa Rican waters. These range from plastic pollution, agricultural effluent and entanglement in ghost nets and long lines from industrial fishing. Mission Blue and Rolex, through its Perpetual Planet initiative, share a commitment to protect the planet. Since 2014, they have been partners in an inspirational endeavour to explore, restore and safeguard the world’s oceans.

Mission Blue has established more than 130 Hope Spots, giving international visibility to local communities campaigning for legal protection of ecologically important areas of the oceans – those considered vital to the preservation of species or places where people rely on a healthy marine environment to survive. Through its global network of Hope Spots, Mission Blue’s aim is to contribute to the international goal of 30 per cent marine protection for the oceans by 2030.

National Geographic once described the waters around the Osa Peninsula as “the most biologically intense place on Earth”. The new Hope Spot, named the Biological Marine Corridor of Osa, has a diverse cluster of ecosystems that are essential for the survival of marine life, including the coral reefs of Caño Island, several important breeding spots for marine species, mangroves and one of the largest wetlands of the Pacific coast of Central America.

Mission Blue founder and Rolex Testimonee Sylvia Earle says: “These areas host breeding and feeding areas for a number of species of whales and thousands of other organisms like sharks, tunas, and the little creatures upon which all the rest are based… By supporting the full protection of this corridor of life along the Osa Peninsula, life itself will be enhanced.”

The waters already have some protection: there are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around the Marino Ballena National Park, Terraba-Sierpe National Wetlands, Caño Island Biological Reserve and Corcovado National Park. But greater protection is needed according to Carlos Mallo Molina, a Mission Blue Champion and founder of Innoceana, a marine conservation NGO in Costa Rica.

“The current MPAs need to be expanded to cover a corridor between them,” Mallo Molina says. “These MPAs don’t currently touch, leaving migrating marine life vulnerable between the gaps. If we want to establish effective protection for the marine life that migrate through Costa Rica’s waters, we need to apply thorough protection across the entire area.”

Mallo Molina is one of three Champions who nominated the Hope Spot and as such will coordinate advocacy events, meet government leaders and pursue scientific activities related to conservation, in collaboration with local organizations, community associations, businesses and authorities. Through Mission Blue, they are working to accelerate the creation of an MPA, Reserva Marina Álvaro Ugalde Víquez, as a step towards greater protection for the local ecosystem.

“Restoring the marine ecosystem off the Osa Peninsula will enrich the local community economically, physically and mentally,” explains Mallo Molina. “Artisanal fishermen will be in a better place thanks to a healthy coral reef and mangroves. With the prohibition of industrial fishing, dive sites will be more attractive, strengthening the local ecotourism industry. It would mean a win-win for all life here, including for humans.”

Key to the way that Mission Blue works is the empowerment of local people to make change by creating a global wave of community support for ocean conservation. Innoceana plans to increase community understanding of the ocean through a Marine Conservation and Education Center, the first of its kind in Costa Rica. It will underpin marine education in the area and serve as a research facility.

PROTECTION FOR THE OCEANS
Through its Perpetual Planet initiative, Rolex is joining forces with key individuals and organizations to assist them find solutions to the Earth’s environmental challenges. As well as its support for Mission Blue, Rolex is also helping to protect the oceans through a variety of partnerships and grants. These include individuals such as Rolex Award Laureates Barbara Block, Vreni Häussermann Vreni Häussermann, Brad Norman and Emma Camp, and global networks of marine scientists such as Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society®. The company also partners with the Monaco Blue Initiative that brings together experts, policymakers and business entrepreneurs along with local and international NGOs, to discuss and highlight solutions to current and future challenges of ocean management and conservation. Additionally, it has supported individual expeditions such as Under The Pole III. Since 2017, the team ha been exploring the oceans to study the mesophotic coral ecosystems that exist between 30 and 150 metres and advance underwater exploration techniques.