Wellbeing

Jo Wood: Protect The Planet

Our green goddess on why it’s time to prioritise our oceans

The sea covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface and provides the oxygen for every second breath we take. It contributes to the clouds that produce rain and snow, giving us fresh water to drink and allowing the beautiful forests and plants to thrive. In fact, without it our planet would look like Mars. But while 100 percent of Mars has been mapped, merely five percent of our oceans have and we still know so little about the very system that helps to keep us alive.

The sea was once a spectacular Eden teeming with incredible life. Then in the 1950s, large-scale fishing began, plastic appeared in the marketplace, mangroves were pulled up for beachfront hotels and houses and industrial pollution shot up. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, the effects of this have been disastrous and our oceans are now in crisis.

Overfishing, climate change, pollution and coastal development have wreaked havoc on our planet’s support systems. Industrial super trawlers have nets big enough to hold 16 jumbo jets, and along with other trawlers, they decimate sea floors and coral reefs, leaving behind a wasteland. Even worse, 40 percent of the global fisheries’ catch is ‘bycatch’ – fish that are discarded back into the water, usually dead, contributing to the decline of this precious ecosystem.

Sharks have also been mercilessly hunted for their fins which are used in soup(!). 500 million are killed each year, often in the most heartless and barbaric way, their fins sheered off and bodies tossed back into the water where, unable to swim, they drown. As sharks are apex predators (those at the top of the food chain that are not preyed upon by any other animals), we need them to keep the ecosystem healthy and balanced.

Plastic has poisoned our oceans and it is reported that unless things change, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by weight. This waste is often not visible to the naked eye, but if you were to scoop up a glass full of seawater and hold it to the light you would see that it is full of plastic debris. The sea’s food web has also been contaminated with plastic, even down to microscopic animals known as zooplankton. Zooplankton, consumed by whales and other species, eat the plastic and microbeads which then crowd out the nucleus of these creatures and make them less nutritious for the species that rely on them for food. Humpback whales eat 1.5 percent of their body weight in krill and zooplankton every day, meaning that they ingest 300,000 microplastic particles on a daily basis. What does this do to the fish on your plate? We are not entirely sure yet, but combined with the mercury caused by pollution, it isn’t good.

Despite all of these grim goings-on, there is hope. We still have 10 percent of the big fish and half of the coral reefs and we can work together to put more of our oceans under protection.

My son Tyrone is currently working with Project 0, an organisation aiming to raise global awareness and open up new revenue streams to finish ocean conservation projects all over the world. Ty is one of the founding board members, and along with an incredible team of passionate, influential people, he’s making a big impact.

Today a mere four percent of the sea is under protection. Project 0 wants to get this to 30 percent by 2030 as well as to restore mangroves and coral reefs. Having more of it protected means that there will be healthy ecosystems to support the overall quality and functioning of our oceans and make them more resistant to climate change. It also means that fisheries can be restored to secure food and jobs for billions of people across the world.

Project 0’s mantra is ‘together we can fix this’, a philosophy I really admire and support. If we all make conscious choices about the fish we eat and reduce our plastic and carbon foot prints, we can make a huge difference. I was delighted to become an ambassador for the organisation and have made changes in my own life to limit the negative impact I have on our beautiful planet. You can follow Project 0 on Instagram (@weareprojectzero) or Twitter (@weareproject0) and visit the website (weareprojectzero.org) to learn more.

Article by

Jo Wood

Healthy and Organic Living Guru

is a healthy and organic living guru and creator of her own natural beauty range

Discover more

Article by

Jo Wood

Healthy and Organic Living Guru

is a healthy and organic living guru and creator of her own natural beauty range

Discover more