If you set sail from the northernmost tip of Colombia and continued clockwise around the entire South American continent, your journey would take you through some of the most beautiful yet most threatened coastal and marine environments in the world. A new study soon to be released by The Nature Conservancy finds that the coastal and marine ecosystems of many South American countries are facing intense pressures that, if left unchecked, could damage these environments to the point of no return. The study—the first of its kind—lists the top ten threats to coastal and marine environments in South America. Ranked according to expert opinion, they are:
 
1. Fisheries
2. Pollution
3. Urban development
4. Resource extraction (for example: mining, timber harvesting, sand harvesting)
5. Hydrocarbon industry
6. Aquaculture (cultivation of fish and shellfish)
7. Marine transport
8. Tourism
9. Invasive species
10. Climate change

Threats to Coastal and Marine Environments

Although so many threats lurk just below the surface, South America’s waters and coasts teem with some of the most spectacular marine life in the world. In the tropical waters of the Colombian and Venezuelan Caribbean, gentle manatees and docile whale sharks drift over brightly colored coral reefs where striped and spotted angelfish dart amongst the rippling shadows.

Six of the world’s seven species of sea turtles can be found in South American waters, and off the shores of Brazil’s 4,655-mile-long mangrove-dotted coastline, four species of endangered sea turtles fight for their survival: the hawksbill turtle, the loggerhead turtle, the green sea turtle, and the world’s largest sea turtle, the leatherback. As the Atlantic waters turn colder near the coasts of Uruguay and Argentina, wandering albatross with 10-foot wing spans float effortlessly on ocean breezes.

Rounding the southernmost of the great capes, Cape Horn, and continuing up South America’s Pacific coast past Chile’s temperate rainforests, Peru’s Atacama Desert, and Ecuador’s unrivaled Galapagos Islands, the cold Humboldt Current supports an unmatched diversity of marine life, including the vulnerable Humboldt penguin.

Why the Conservancy Works Here

Home to 380 million people, the needs of South America’s population, multiplied by growing demand from international markets, mean more and more pressures are being heaped on the continent’s Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and Caribbean Sea.  Overfishing and destructive fishing practices cause direct damage to marine and coastal ecosystems, while silt, sewage, pollution, and fertilizer run-off from farming, agriculture, and urban development also pose serious dangers to South America’s waters and the magnificent species that live there. Despite all the threats, there are very few marine protected areas in the region. Such protected areas are essential for the survival of many marine species, and for the health of coastal and marine environments and the people who depend on them.

What the Conservancy Is Doing

The Nature Conservancy works with governments and local conservation organizations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela to help execute effective coastal and marine conservation work. The Conservancy has helped identify over 96 million acres of potential new coastal and marine protected areas; if created, these would more than double the current levels of coastal and marine protection in South America. 

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Marci Eggers/TNC (Paracas National Reserve, Peru); Photo © Sandra Howard (baby sea lions); Map © Demian Rybock/TNC.