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CONCLUSION
The Salas y Gómez and Nazca Ridges have been identified as one of the most important places to protect on the high seas by numerous international organizations and scientific studies. These assessments concluded that the ridges are among the most ecologically and culturally important areas on the high seas globally. To date, commercial fishing in this region has been limited, and deep-sea mineral exploration has not occurred, providing a narrow window of opportunity to proactively protect this unique region without significantly impacting industries. Such protection measures would, however, provide this region with a much greater chance to withstand impending impacts from global climate change, which are forecasted to be substantial in this region. Additionally, protecting these areas would provide a global example for conservation—one that unites countries with shared interests and ecosystems. Furthermore, it would showcase the global leadership of the countries in this region and accelerate implementation of the high seas treaty for the benefit of present and future generations. With less than 8% of our ocean under protection, the high seas provide our greatest hope to achieve global protection targets and thereby limit the impending impacts of climate change and biodiversity decline.
250 miles
Close-up of the Nazca Ridge—one of Earth’s most dramatic undersea mountain ranges. The underwater geography creates unique biozones that are home to many threatened (and even undiscovered) marine species. The shaded relief visualization was created from an image service stewarded by NOAA in ArcGIS Online. The bright areas popping out in yellow are islands; most of this “landscape” is underwater.
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