Vision
We want the ocean to return to its completeness. For only when the ocean is functionally complete again, with biodiversity as its foundation, can it serve as a guarantor of our sustainable global future.
The vision of Ocean us goes far beyond the concept of resilience – the ability of the marine ecosystem to recover on its own – that currently governs actions aimed at restoring marine ecosystems. That is the reason why the founding team of Ocean us created the new term of “ocean completeness” as its most ambitious vision: because only a functionally complete and abundant ocean can ensure our sustainable global future.
With this vision Ocean us does not accept the unacceptable because, if we only focused on resilient marine ecosystems, we would accept the loss of virtually all marine flora and fauna that are not yet resilient, as is currently the case for most coral reefs. At Ocean us we are aware that abundance is the only thing that generates more abundance and scarcity only causes more scarcity.
Ocean completeness: our new goal
A complete ocean refers to one whose life-supporting processes are fully available, and which are necessary for it to function as a whole: it supports efficient food webs, sequesters carbon, defends shorelines, safely recycles elements, maintains populations, and is resilient to change and impacts. A depleted ocean, which is the present state of our oceans, is incomplete and empty in many ways, as dead zones proliferate, ecosystems are lost, and the remaining life is more vulnerable to future changes, whether inflicted by natural or human impact.
To achieve completeness, we need to increase the abundance of key habitats and species and restore the three-dimensional complexity of benthic ecosystems.
“The yardstick of success should be the rebuilding of the marine ecological structure, its functions, resilience, and ecosystem abilities, increasing the capacity of marine biota to supply the growing needs of an additional 2 to 3 billion people by 2050. To meet this goal, rebuilding depleted populations and ecosystems must replace the goal of conserving and sustaining the status quo, and immediate action should be taken to avoid potential tipping points beyond which collapse may be irreversible”
Carlos Duarte
To learn more about the concept of ocean completeness, please read the white paper.
Mission
We are rebuilding marine life through science and together with society.
It is no longer just about protecting what little there remains, but about significantly increasing the diversity and quantity of marine life.
Because nowadays nearly every key marine habitat needs active intervention to be able to recover.
With this objective, Ocean us promotes a paradigm shift, replacing the old way of thinking of conservationists with the new thinking of rebuilding, which includes conservation while going beyond it.
“As long as we humans are only part of the problem and not of the solution, we will not make any progress. Rebuilding marine life forces us to become an active part of the solution. Conservation alone does not bring about this collective behavioral change.
Let’s take this opportunity.”