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		Marine Conservation Marine Conservation What's New Threats to Oceans The Role of Oceans What You Can Do   World Ocean Day What We Do   Build resilience   Restore habitats   Use market-based   strategies   Set priorities   Manage threats Where We Work Marine Species Coral Reefs Contact Us Press Releases For Practitioners

Help support marine conservation With your help, we can conserve marine habitat around the world for people and nature. Coral reefs are among the greatest storehouses of biodiversity on Earth, but are one of the most threatened marine systems. Learn more about how you can help us protect coral reefs around the world. World Ocean Day World Ocean Day was created in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and is an opportunity each year to celebrate the ocean and our personal connections to the sea.

The problems facing our oceans are complex. But working together, we can make a difference. The opportunity is now, while we can still reduce the downward trend. With your help, we can change the course for our oceans and coasts and the people who depend on them. Here's how you and your family can help:

1. Learn tips for protecting coral reefs and oceans.
   
2. Donate online now to support The Nature Conservancy’s work to protect and restore marine habitats in your area and around the world.
3. Understand your seafood choices. Use a guide, such as from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to make informed choices when choosing seafood.
4. Sign up for the Conservancy’s Great Places Network, a free online membership program, to learn more about what the Conservancy is doing in your state and around the globe.
5. When visiting the beach, make your visit low-impact and safe. Stay off fragile sand dunes and leave plants, birds and wildlife for everyone to enjoy. Find a Conservancy coastal preserve near you.
6. Test your oceans knowledge with our online quiz.
7. Celebrate our oceans. Whether you live inland or on the coast we are all connected to the ocean; take the time to organize or participate in activities that celebrate the ocean. Send an ocean e-card.

World Ocean Facts

• More than one-third of the world’s population lives in coastal areas and small islands that make up just over four percent of the Earth’s total land areas.
• One billion people depend on fish and seafood as their primary source of protein.
• Barrier beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and wetlands offer protection from storms and other natural disasters to over half of the world’s population.
• Oceans provide us with more than $20 trillion annually in ecological goods and services including food, energy and transportation, as well as medicines.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): © Emily Whitted/TNC (Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica); © Barry Truitt (Sampling); © Daniel and Robbie Wisdom (coral); © Graham Marsden (Sunset, Costa Rica).