International Journal of Marine Science, 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 40-50 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 40 Research Report Open Access Reversing the Blue Decline: Strategies and Practices of the Ocean Science Decade for Global Ocean Health Recovery Juping Jiang South China Sea Biological Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, China Corresponding author email: krislfjin@gmail.com International Journal of Marine Science, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, doi: 10.5376/ijms.2024.14.0006 Received: 28 Jan., 2024 Accepted: 10 Mar., 2024 Published: 08 Apr., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Jiang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Jiang J.P., 2024, Reversing the blue decline: strategies and practices of the ocean science decade for global ocean health recovery, International Journal of Marine Science, 14(1): 40-50 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2024.14.0006) Abstract As the health of the global oceans continues to decline, biodiversity is severely threatened, and human well-being is challenged. The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (referred to as "the Ocean Decade") aims to reverse this trend through scientific research and technological innovation, providing a solid scientific foundation and practical pathways for the sustainable development of the oceans. This study focuses on the core goals and strategic priorities of the Ocean Decade, exploring in detail how scientific research and technological innovation can help understand and address the causes of ocean health decline, and how these efforts can promote the recovery and protection of marine ecosystems. By analyzing specific case studies, this research demonstrates successful projects implemented globally, such as the establishment of the Global Ocean Observing System and protection projects for key marine ecosystems, and how these projects offer viable solutions for the restoration of ocean health. This study aims to emphasize the central role of scientific research and technological innovation in addressing global ocean challenges and promoting sustainable development of the oceans. It is hoped that the discussions in this study will provide references and insights for future ocean science research and policy-making. Keywords United nations decade of ocean science; Ocean health; Scientific research; Technological innovation; Sustainable development Over the past few decades, the continued deterioration of the health of the global ocean has become a focus of international concern. The ocean, as the largest life support system on earth, is not only a treasure house of biological diversity, but also an important foundation for human social and economic activities. However, due to the impact of a series of human activities such as climate change, pollution, overfishing, etc., the global ocean is facing unprecedented pressure, and its health has declined sharply (Ryabinin et al., 2019). This decline not only threatens the survival of marine life and the richness of biodiversity, but also poses a direct threat to human well-being. For example, Tian et al. (2020) study conducted an ecological risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in the coastal areas of the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea, pointing out the potential risks of these pollutants to the marine ecosystem, which will ultimately affect the sustainable use of fishery resources . The study by Liu et al. (2013) summarized the research progress of marine biodiversity in various sea areas and emphasized the environmental degradation (pollution, Coastal construction, etc.) threatens marine biodiversity, and the destruction of marine ecosystems directly affects the sustainability of fishery resources. Frequent marine pollution incidents have had a serious impact on the health and livelihood of coastal communities. Against this background, the United Nations has launched a ten-year ocean science plan, the “United Nations Decade of Ocean Science” (2021-2030), which aims to provide support for the sustainable development of the ocean by strengthening scientific research and technological innovation. The plan emphasizes the core role of scientific research in solving ocean problems and aims to assemble global scientific forces to gain an in-depth understanding of the operating mechanism of marine ecosystems, diagnose the current status of ocean health, and propose practical and effective protection measures through interdisciplinary collaborative research. and recovery measures (Valdés, 2017). The goal of the Ocean Decade is not only for scientific research itself, but more importantly, to transform scientific research into practical policies and management actions, to provide scientific basis and technical support for global ocean governance, and to achieve long-term sustainable development of ocean health.
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