VIS 2026VIS 2026 — Virtual Island Summit|Also: GSIS 2027GSIS 2027
Island Innovation Logo
About
Services
The Network
Events
Content Library
Contact Us

Subscribe to our newsletter. By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

Island Innovation

Island Innovation works with governments, institutions, and partners worldwide to support island-led sustainable economic development.

We Support The UN Development Goals

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 14: Life Below Water
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Explore

AboutServicesNetworkEvents

Content

ArticlesNewsCareers

Ready to Connect?

Join the island innovation community

Get in Touch

About

  • About us
  • Case Studies
  • FAQs
  • Press
  • Careers
  • Contact

Services

  • Services Overview
  • Public & Media Relations
  • Strategic Communications

Network

  • The Island Network
  • Academic Council
  • Newsletter

Events

  • Our Events
  • Watch Past Events

Content

  • All Content Library
  • Videos
  • Articles
  • News
Privacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContactManage email preferences

© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

    Filter by Core Theme

    All ThemesCircular EconomyClimate ActionConnectivity & DigitizationCulture & CommunityEnergy & TransportGreen Finance & EconomyOcean & BiodiversityPolicy & GovernanceTourism & Remote WorkWater & Food
    Showing 9 of 243 news items in Ocean & Biodiversity
    Environmental DNA, a ‘revolutionary’ key to unlocking the secrets of our oceans
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    Environmental DNA, a ‘revolutionary’ key to unlocking the secrets of our oceans

    Pierre Jorcin slides on a pair of gloves, attaches a plastic tube to a filter, plunges it into the water, presses the start button on a small pump and then slowly begins walking through the river stream. Thirty minutes later, he has gathered three litres of water and filtered thousands of particles. The entire procedure seems simple, banal even. But Jorcin’s gesture is part of a microscopic revolution. In the process, the scientist has collected fragments of [environmental DNA](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210907-the-world-in-a-drop-of-water-dna-tool-transforms-nature-tracking), also known as eDNA. “Every living organism leaves traces of DNA behind, whether in water, soil or in the air. And those traces hold out for some time before eventually degrading,” Jorcin explains. “By collecting them, we can identify and catalogue the organisms we find like bacteria, mammals, amphibians, fish, etc.”

    Read more
    12345678910
    Value oceans, don’t plunder them, French Polynesia leader tells AFP
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    Value oceans, don’t plunder them, French Polynesia leader tells AFP

    The archipelago in the far South Pacific Ocean, an overseas territory of France, is led by Moetai Brotherson, who believes oceans should be valued, not plundered. President Brotherson spoke with AFP about deep-sea mining, ecological stewardship, and his dream of a day where environment summits are no longer needed. A: “It covers our entire exclusive economic zone, approximately 5 million square kilometres (1.93 million square miles). From north to south, that’s equivalent to the distance between Stockholm and Sicily, and from east to west, it’s Romania to Portugal.

    Read more
    Oceans: What if France’s future lay in its overseas territories?
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    Oceans: What if France’s future lay in its overseas territories?

    The figures are well-known, but it’s worth recalling them. Thanks to its overseas territories, France today possesses the world’s second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) behind the United States and ahead of Australia, with nearly 11 million km². A vast expanse that extends across all oceans. In the Atlantic with the Antilles, French Guiana and Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon, in the Indian Ocean with Réunion, Mayotte and the Scattered Islands, in the Pacific with New Caledonia, Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna. France is also present in Antarctica with the TAAF, the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (Crozet archipelago, Kerguelen, Amsterdam and Saint-Paul). This presence allows France to be the only nation in the world to have territories in all major oceans, except the Arctic. The United Kingdom also possesses several overseas territories such as Bermuda, Gibraltar or the Falklands, but its presence is not as extensive across all oceans. The United States has a strong presence in the Pacific with notably Hawai’i and American Samoa, in the Atlantic with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, but not in the Indian Ocean. This presence in the three major oceans of the planet gives France a strategic role in international negotiations on the exploitation of marine resources, biodiversity, and the fight against piracy and illegal fishing. “We must fully grasp the importance of this maritime domain. First is the United States, second Australia, but we clearly understand that the United States and Australia achieve this through the size of their mainland territories, which is absolutely not the case for our country. Exactly 96% of France’s maritime domain relies on its overseas territories. And therefore, the overseas territories are France’s great opportunity, and also that of the European Union. But this incredible potential only wears out if we use it,” indicates Christian Buchet, historian and geopolitician, specialist in seas and oceans.

    Read more
    Indonesian women sustain seaweed traditions in a changing climate
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    Indonesian women sustain seaweed traditions in a changing climate

    NUSA PENIDA, Indonesia — Storm clouds loom overhead as Nyoman Mitri peers out at rows of seaweed lines stretching across the shallow tidal waters of Nusa Penida. Her weathered hands move with practiced ease as she secures a strand of green seaweed to a rope. “It never used to be like this,” she says. “It’s only been the last 10 years or so that rain has begun to seriously damage the seaweed.” Ibu Mitri, or Mrs. Mitri, as she’s known by her community, is sharing her seaweed cultivation techniques with a few tourists. Together, they sort through fresh seaweed, discarding damaged strands and carefully tying healthy green ones onto lengths of rope, preparing them to be returned to the sea and fastened to wooden posts, where they’ll continue growing until the next harvest. As she ties hundreds of strands of seaweed back onto the lines, lulled into a methodical rhythm, she begins to share her concerns: the changing climate, increasing development, and the growing unreliability of each harvest. With a shy smile, she speaks of how increased rainfall and more frequent storms have threatened traditions once guided by the seasons, not by storms.

    Read more
    ‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    ‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit

    This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. NICE, France — At the 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC), taking place in Nice, France, between June 9 and 13, world leaders renewed their call for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, an emerging industry that many experts say could seriously and irreversibly damage marine ecosystems. At the opening plenary, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced deep-sea mining as “madness.” He described the prospective industry as a “predatory” activity that threatens to destroy the seabed and potentially release stored carbon. France was among the first countries to take a stand against deep-sea mining, calling for a [ban](https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/frances-macron-joins-growing-chorus-calling-for-deep-sea-mining-ban/) in 2022.

    Read more
    FAO releases the most detailed global assessment of marine fish stocks to date
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    FAO releases the most detailed global assessment of marine fish stocks to date

    **Rome/Nice, France**– Some of the world’s marine fisheries are recovering under strong, science-based management, but many others remain under pressure, according to a report launched today at the UN Ocean Conference by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It shows just how far effective governance can go and how urgently those gains need to be replicated. [The Review of the state of world marine fishery resources – 2025](https://doi.org/10.4060/cd5538en)reports on the biological sustainability of 2 570 individual fish stocks, a major increase from previous editions of the report. Informed by over 650 experts from more than 200 institutions and over 90 countries, this participatory and inclusive report analyzes trends across all [FAO](https://www.fao.org/home/en) marine [fishing areas](https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/area/search) and offers the clearest picture to date of how global marine fisheries are faring. The report confirms that 64.5 percent of all fishery stocks are exploited within biologically sustainable levels, with 35.5 percent of stocks classified as overfished. When weighted by their production levels, 77.2 percent of the fisheries landings globally come from biologically sustainable stocks. In marine fishing areas under effective fisheries management, sustainability rates far exceed the global average. In the Northeast Pacific, for example, 92.7 percent of stocks are sustainably fished. “Effective management remains the most powerful tool for conserving fisheries resources. This review provides an unprecedentedly comprehensive understanding, enabling more informed decision-making based on data,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General of FAO. “This report gives governments the evidence they need to shape policy and coordinate coherently.”

    Read more
    Cabo Verde – Mãezinha of Rincão: A woman of the sea, a voice for her community
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 16, 2025

    Cabo Verde – Mãezinha of Rincão: A woman of the sea, a voice for her community

    In the quiet fishing village of Rincão, on the western coast of Santiago Island in Cabo Verde, Maria Sábado Horta Fidalgo, known to everyone as Mãezinha, is more than just a fishmonger. She is a boat owner, community leader, advocate for sustainable fishing, and a woman determined to chart her own course through hardship and hope. At 44, Mãezinha lives in a multigenerational household with her 86-year-old mother, her 8-year-old daughter, and her niece. Her eldest daughter, now 21, has emigrated. Together, they form the anchor of a life built around the sea, a business she inherited not just by circumstance, but by calling. “My name is Maria Sábado Horta Fidalgo, better known as Mãezinha” she quietly introduced herself,” as she sat on the rooftop of her small house facing the Atlantic Ocean. There, fishmongers, mostly young men and a few middle-aged women were busy divvying up catches brought ashore by fishermen. “I have two daughters… I’m a fishmonger, I have two boats,” she added.

    Read more
    UNOC3: Azores bring to Nice the largest protected maritime zone in the North Atlantic
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 10, 2025

    UNOC3: Azores bring to Nice the largest protected maritime zone in the North Atlantic

    From June 9-13, the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) is taking place in Nice, France. Political leaders from around the world, along with scientists, civil society organisations, and the private sector are gathering to discuss solutions for ocean preservation and sustainability. Located in the North Atlantic, the Azores archipelago plays a notable role: it has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in Europe and has been strengthening its position as a model of commitment to marine conservation. A prime example of this is the Blue Azores program, an initiative of the Regional Government of the Azores, in partnership with the Oceano Azul Foundation and the international organisation Waitt Institute, as Luís Bernardo Brito e Abreu, Advisor to the President of the Government of the Azores and Coordinator of the Blue Azores Program, explained to RFI’s reporting team.

    Read more
    Japan’s ‘Ama’ divers fight to keep their heritage alive
    Ocean & BiodiversityJune 10, 2025

    Japan’s ‘Ama’ divers fight to keep their heritage alive

    In a coastal hut in Mie Prefecture, a charcoal fire burns at the center as ama — “sea woman” in Japanese, who make a living by free-diving for seafood — warm their hands, or grill fresh catch for curious visitors. Outside, Pacific waves break gently along the rocky shore of Shima City. For years, this ocean has been the workplace, provider, and spiritual companion for Machiyo Yamashita and Kaori Arai. “We can’t be afraid because it’s our own job,” said the 75-year-old Yamashita, who has been diving for 50 years. “I have to be strong.”

    Read more