(serene music)
What we mean by rewilding the sea
is any effort to improve
the health of the ocean
by leaving it alone to recover
or actively restoring
habitats and species.
Our aim is to get back
to intact, thriving marine ecosystems
in rude health
and at their full potential.
Rewilding not only secures a future
for a whole host of marine species
and habitats,
but these new marine powerhouses
of life
can help us deliver
our climate change objectives,
healthy ecosystems,
fix and store huge amounts of carbon.
Left alone to thrive,
areas of rewilded sea
can provide benefits to fisheries
and the communities around them.
replenishing stocks and creating
nurseries for key species,
for all of us,
and for generations to come.
(music)
Serious ambition is urgently needed,
and at scale.
We talk about saving nature,
but this is about nature saving us.
We can't go on simply undermining
the very fabric of the system
that ultimately supports us.
We need to think big, and act now.
We are now entering
the United Nations decade
of ecosystem restoration.
This is our moment.
It's time for us to rethink
how we do things.
Working together better
across governments,
industry, environmental bodies,
and academia.
Protecting our coasts
and supporting fisheries.
(music)
From oysteries to mangroves,
from America to Africa and Asia,
restoration successes are happening
all over.
Marine restoration really does work
and we're getting better at it
all the time.
We've made a good start,
exciting things are happening,
and we've learned
that every sea and coast
can benefit.
(music)
Rewilding is seriously underfunded
and not yet taken seriously in politics.
It's an essential for everyone.
We need the ocean thriving
and punching at its full power,
if we are going to revert
planetary disaster.
Today, wild marine protected areas
count for six per cent
of global ocean surface.
Fully protected areas
are less than one per cent.
Many of them have no adequate
enforcement at all.
We must overcome barriers
to collaboration,
and provide some freedom to innovate,
improving processes and regulations
to make rewilding possible.
The future of our vital ocean
depends on what we do
in the next few years.
There is a huge potential to achieve
something amazing,
bringing the life back to oceans
as it used to be.
All of this is doable.
We must just get together
and make it happen.
Let's all work together,
in partnership,
to restore the marine environment.
This is a wonderful opportunity,
for practitioners, regulators
and funders,
to come together,
to raise our collective ambition,
and rewild the sea.
(epic music)