An ingenious proposal for scaling up marine protection

Island and coastal nations need to protect their waters to keep the oceans healthy. But they often have lots of debt and aren't able to prioritize ocean conservation over other needs. Mark Tercek and his team at The Nature Conservancy see a way to solve both problems at once: restructuring a nation's debt in exchange for its government's commitment to protect coastal areas. Learn more about how "Blue Bonds for Conservation" work -- and how you can help unlock billions of dollars for the oceans. This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change. (Voiced by Ladan Wise)

Ah, earth's oceans.

They are beautiful,
inspiring, life-sustaining.

They are also, as you're probably
quite aware, more or less screwed.

In the Seychelles, for example,

human activities and climate change
have left corals bleached.

Overfishing has caused
fish stocks to plummet.

Biodiversity is in peril.

So what can we do?

Well, some form of protection, obviously.

Nature is very resilient.

When marine areas
are strategically protected,

entire ecosystems can bounce back.

However, creating marine
protected areas isn't easy.

First, you have the issue
of figuring out where to protect.

This coral reef overlaps with that
international fishing route,

intersects with this fish hatchery.

Everything is interconnected.

And marine protection plans
must take into account

how one area affects another.

Then, there's the issue
of getting everyone on board.

Coastal economies
often rely on fishing and tourism.

If people think they can't do their work,

there's no chance of getting
the local buy-in you need

for the area to be successful.

Marine protected areas
must also be enforced.

That means the government itself
must be deeply invested in the plan.

Token support will not cut it.

And finally, conservation requires money.

A lot of it.

Governments in island and coastal nations
may want to protect their waters,

but often these nations
have very high debt

and can't afford
to prioritize conservation.

If we rely on philanthropic dollars alone
to fund marine protection,

we might get a small
marine-protected area here,

another little one there.

But we need more
marine protected areas faster,

to have lasting impact.

So what exactly does
smart ocean conservation look like?

How do we get the money,
government support and careful planning

that takes into account
both local economies

and complex ecosystems?

We want to share with you
an audacious idea

from The Nature Conservancy.

It seeks to address
all of these things in one fell swoop.

They've realized that debt held
by island and coastal nations

is the very thing that will enable them
to achieve their conservation goals.

TNC's idea is to restructure this debt,

to generate the funds and political will

to protect reefs, mangroves and fisheries.

For example, if you refinance your house

to take advantage
of a better interest rate,

maybe you use the savings
to insulate your attic.

That's what Blue Bonds for Conservation do
for entire coastal countries.

Refinance the debt,

then use the savings
to create marine protected areas.

Of course, sovereign debt restructuring
is more complicated than that,

but you get the basic idea.

If investors put in
40 million dollars now,

it can unlock as much as 1.6 billion
for ocean conservation.

And this is how the work gets done.

Step one: negotiate the deal.

A coastal nation commits to protect
at least 30 percent of its ocean areas.

In exchange, The Nature Conservancy
bring investors, public funders

and international
development organizations

to the table to restructure
a portion of the nation's debt,

leading to lower interest rates
and longer repayment periods.

Step two: create a marine plan.

Simultaneously, The Nature Conservancy
works with marine scientists,

government leaders and local stakeholders

to create a detailed conservation plan

that integrates the needs of the ocean
with the needs of the people.

Step three: activate for longevity.

TNC establishes an independently run
conservation trust fund.

The savings from the debt
restructure goes into it

to support new marine protected areas.

The trust then holds the government
accountable for its commitments,

ensuring that the Blue Bonds
finance real protection efforts.

Could this plan work?

It already has.

In 2016, TNC helped create a national
conservation plan in the Seychelles.

TNC restructured 22 million dollars
of the government's debt.

And in exchange, the government agreed
to protect 30 percent of its marine areas.

Today, the Seychelles is on track

to protect 400,000
square kilometers of ocean.

That's an area
roughly the size of Germany.

The Seychelles
is protecting its coral reefs,

it's replenishing its fisheries,

it's improving its resilience
to climate change.

At the same time,
it's strengthening its economy.

This success is making
other governments take note.

Many want to be part of this.

There's an opportunity
to scale this up, dramatically.

And fast.

TNC has identified 20 more nations
where such a plan should be possible.

But to execute, they need seed capital.

And to put in place local teams
who can develop conservation plans,

work with all the stakeholders
and structure the deals.

If they get the support they need
over the next five years,

they could protect four million
square kilometers of ocean.

That's 10 Germanies.

This would increase
the amount of protected areas

in all of the world's oceans

by an incredible 15 percent.

It would allow vast tracks
of the world's coral reefs to replenish

and give safe harbor to countless species.

This would be truly incredible.

And it's really just the beginning.

Because there aren't
20 countries in the world

where this kind of debt
conversion would work.

There are almost 100.

With this approach, everyone wins.

Governments, local citizens, funders,

and most importantly, our oceans.

So in fact, we all win.

Ah, earth's oceans.

[The Audacious Project]