A reef in waters off Tahiti, French Polynesia. Countries and territories including Chile, Colombia and others pledged 20 new marine protected areas on Friday.  Credit…Daniel Cole/Associated Press

More than 20 new marine protected areas in coastal waters were announced at the third U.N. ocean conference this week. Experts say thousands more are needed.

Remote coral atolls in the Caribbean. Habitat for threatened sharks and rays around a Tanzanian island in the Indian Ocean. And 900,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean around French Polynesia.

These are some of the millions of acres of water now set aside as part of an international goal to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. More than 20 new marine protected areas were announced at the third United Nations Ocean Conference, which ended on Friday in France.

Countries and territories pledging new areas included Chile; Colombia; French Polynesia; Portugal; Samoa; Sao Tome and Principe; the Solomon Islands; Tanzania; and Vanuatu.

“Protecting the ocean is beginning to become fashionable,” said Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist and oceanographer who served as chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the 1990s, at an event celebrating a network of protected areas around the Azores.

The new designations come at a time when the United States, which sent only two observers to the conference, has moved to reopen the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing. The country is also seeking to unilaterally authorize mining of the seafloor in international waters.

France, which hosted the conference with Costa Rica, pushed for a moratorium on deep sea mining, with four new countries pledging their support this week, bringing the total to 37 countries.

Less than 3 percent of the ocean is currently fully protected from “extractive” activities like commercial fishing and mining, according to the Marine Protection Atlas.

Peter Thomson, the United Nations secretary general’s special envoy for the ocean, acknowledged at the Azores event that reaching 30 percent by the 2030 deadline may not happen. But, he said, “It’s not a mythical thing that will never happen.”

In order to reach the goal, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, needs to be enforced with at least 60 countries ratifying it. At the conference, 19 new countries ratified the treaty, bringing the total to 50 individual countries plus the European Union. Once active, the treaty would provide a pathway toward protecting stretches of the ocean beyond individual countries’ borders.

And in coastal waters within those borders, much remains to be done. A study published in May found that the average marine protected area today is about 10 square kilometers, meaning about 188,000 more areas of that size are needed — or 85 new marine protected areas a day.

These numbers are “super daunting,” said the report’s lead author Kristin Rechberger, who is chief executive of the conservation organization Dynamic Planet. She wants countries to break through the challenge by decentralizing marine protection and allowing coastal communities to create their own small protected areas at a faster pace.

A separate report published last week found that countries need to raise $15.8 billion a year in order to protect 30 percent of the ocean. Currently about $1.2 billion a year goes toward ocean protection globally.

Questions also remain about how meaningful existing protections are.

Activists have been pushing the French government to announce a ban on bottom trawling in its marine protected areas. President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would place 4 percent of its mainland waters under “strong protection,” limiting bottom trawling, a fishing process that drags nets along the seafloor. This falls short of an existing European Union goal of placing 10 percent of its waters under “strict protection,” without commercial fishing of any kind.

“Allowing destructive bottom trawling in most of France’s so-called ‘protected’ areas makes a mockery of ocean protection,” said Alexandra Cousteau, senior adviser to Oceana and granddaughter of the ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, in a written statement. “It’s like building a fence around a forest and then bulldozing it anyway.”

Even where protections from commercial fishing exist around the world, enforcement is often lacking.

Zafer Kizilkaya, president of the Mediterranean Conservation Society, has worked with local fishing communities to create and patrol a marine protected area at Gokova Bay in Turkey, allowing endangered monk seals to return. Community members — including former fishers — serve as marine rangers, reporting illegal commercial fishing to the Turkish Coast Guard, which follows up with fines.

Mr. Kizilkaya is not seeking greater percentages of protected marine areas at this point, but rather “serious enforcement and management,” he said. “That will make a huge difference.”

The United States did not send an official delegation to the conference. Two representatives from the the administration’s Environmental Advisory Task Force, including Ed Russo, the chairman, attended as what the State Department called “government observers.”

The day before the conference began, Mr. Russo wrote an opinion piece in Time magazine with Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce and owner of Time, outlining ideas for a “focused, global effort to restore coral reefs.”

“We believe that addressing coral-reef health is a smart place to focus — not because it is the only crisis,” they wrote, “but because it offers a clear, actionable, achievable goal that can unite governments and ocean advocates.”

Mr. Russo and Mr. Benioff did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Russo is chief executive of RussKap Water, president of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition and a board member of Reef Relief.

Mr. Benioff, who during the first Trump administration raised Republican support for an initiative to plant a trillion trees, has funded a center for marine conservation called the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Salesforce was a major sponsor of the U.N. ocean conference’s publicly accessible exhibits.

John Kerry, the former special presidential envoy for climate under President Biden, said he didn’t know what role the United States would play in ocean protection now.

“We have an amazing conglomeration of countries that have come together to improve the marine protected areas,” Mr. Kerry said. The announcements this week, however, are “just building blocks,” he said. “We are not moving fast enough or at scale.”

Note: Along with heads of state, delegates, NGOs, and journalists, Fellows with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network attended the conference.

Daphné Anglès contributed reporting.

Delger Erdenesanaa (Author)

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Under the High Patronage of
Mr Emmanuel MACRON
President of the French Republic

Paris, May 30, 2025 – Responding to the call of the Israeli, Palestinian, and global populations for lasting peace in the Middle East, the Paris Peace Forum is hosting a civil society mobilization event for the two-state solution, peace, and regional security in Paris on June 13, 2025. Entitled “Paris Call for the Two-State Solution, Peace and Regional Security,” the event will be held at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. This key meeting will take place a few days ahead of the High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Resolution of the Palestinian Question and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which will be held from June 17 to 20, 2025, at the United Nations in New York.

This event will bring together several hundred civil society actors committed to the implementation of the two-state solution and a shared future based on mutual recognition, peace, and security for all. At a time when the region is plagued by extreme violence, terrorism, hatred, and injustice, and when the two-state solution faces existential threats, participants—mostly Israelis and Palestinians, but also from the Middle East, Europe, and the United States—will highlight the need for decisive action. They will stress the urgency of an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the unconditional delivery of humanitarian aid commensurate with the needs of the people of Gaza.

On June 13 in Paris, these organizations and civil society figures will put their expertise and experience at the service of concrete solutions for the implementation of the two-state solution and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state, offering security guarantees for all, and for advancing regional integration. In addition to contributing to the work of the eight thematic working groups of the High-Level International Conference on June 17-20, the civil society actors gathered in large numbers on this occasion will launch a call to action to the international community reflecting their commitment to peace and security for all.

This Paris Call will reinforce the action of France and the European Union, which are committed to peace in the Middle East, which cannot be achieved without the implementation of the two-state solution. The conference organized by the Paris Peace Forum aims to support this objective by providing a platform for the concrete expression of civil societies committed to the two-state solution, regional peace, and security.

For media enquiries, please contact media@parispeaceforum.org. For all other enquiries (e.g., if you are a civil society actor), please contact contact@parispeaceforum.org. 

About the Paris Peace Forum: The Forum is a platform to originate, shape & share multi-actor responses towards global peace & sustainable prosperity. By convening key decision-makers and fostering collaboration between governments, international organizations, businesses, and civil society, we ensure that diplomacy is not just discussed but reinvented to meet the demands of a changing world. For more information, visit parispeaceforum.org. 

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ONE OF A KIND SUMMER RENTAL OPPORTUNTY Historic Montauk Manor, 2 BR, 2 full renovated baths, duplex condo on top floor. www.montaukmanor.com

Value $80,000 daily rental. Activities for children every day and more, safe protected environment, great Award Winning Monte’s Restaurant Former owner of Gurneys) … Iron frame king bed downstairs, Queen Bed upstairs, Queen Bed Couch French Bistro Table & Chairs in LR, Knotty Pine furniture BR’s, Great Art. 3 HDTVs New 55inch in LR. Newly decorated, has a full kitchen with dishwasher, and more. New Floors. Views of Gardner’s Bay and a Breathtaking Sunset. Sleep 6-8. Courtyard apartment with very high loft 20 Foot Cathedral Angle Ceilings/Skylight in this outstanding historic resort. 2 pools, indoor/sauna/Jacuzzi just redone gorgeous, and outdoor heated pool overlooking Bay, workout room, bikes, 3 New Tennis Courts with pro, SPA on grounds, 10 Foot fireplaces in lobby 40ft. ceilings, close to everything. Great for family, couple. . Close to train from New York, parking. Magnificent Sunsets! Vacation of all vacations. Dylan’s Candy Store rented one summer for Executives. Owner agent. Security and cleaning. Paul Sladkus show contact info . June 9th through Labor Day. If desired you also can be interviewed on www.goodnewsplanet.com and www.pausetheworldforpeace.org to share your or your friends’ Good News! Possible use of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

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Listen to “Chef Melodie ‘Mel’ Asseraf is a two-time champion of Food Network’s hit show, Chopped, and was trained in classical French cuisine in…” on Spreaker.

Mel demystifies French techniques and shows you how to use them, along with ten basic ingredients, to make everything from simple cookies, biscotti, bars, and the best brownies you’ve ever tasted, to impressive French pastries and celebratory desserts. Whether it’s making a quick sweet treat to enjoy while you’re binging your favorite show, or creating an elegant Pear Amandine tart for your most elegant dinner party, you can find any dessert your sweet tooth desires! With 100 recipes, clear, concise instructions, handy chef’s tips, and information on everything you need in your baking arsenal, Sweet Treats from Brownies to Brioche is the only baking book you’ll ever need.

ABOUT CHEF MEL: Pastry diploma in hand & college degree secured chef Mel’s professional baking journey began in Paris. training with some of the biggest pastry chef icons like Pierre Herme, Francois Payard, and Laurent Duchene. She opened a bakery at the age of 26 in Paris and created mesmerizing events, bringing the rainbow cake to Paris for the first time with appearances on Top Chef France, M6, TF1, 100% Mag and hundreds of articles. Going on to create the first ever edible cupcake dress for the Salon du Chocolat in both Paris and London. Several years later she would go on to win Food Network’s Chopped TWICE. In short Bake it with Mel- brings you 15+ years of pastry savoir faire, expert baking kit experiences, and a chef finally sharing the best industry kept secrets. For more information on Mel, please visit: https://www.bakeitwithmel.com/.

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John Lam Family at Fushimi Restaurant

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Tony Kushner, Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright (Angels in America), screen-writer (Munich, Lincoln) and author (The Art of Maurice Sendak. 1980 to the Present) gave the remarks on James C. Nicola. After a highly insightful and entertaining theatrical history lesson about the complicated, yet cross-fertilizing relationship between Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht, Tony Kushner praised James Nicola’s work at the helm of the New York Theatre Workshop, saying, that over the years and particularly with the move of the Theatre Workshop’s home to East Fourth Street, Jim “was creating a new identity and purpose for the workshop joining it to the deepest, most artistically consequential American theatrical tradition, namely the century-old ongoing experiment of new forms for our still new nation. Brecht once dismissed American theater as being art created for people on the move by people who don’t know where they are going. That dismissal could also serve, now that we are past the age of believing wholly in grand theories, as a kind of credo. That’s the kind of credo for Jim Nicola, whose theater embraces and even celebrates not knowing where you are going. Jim’s theater asks only that you have some sense of where you come from.” Tony Kushner than confessed, that “Jim’s theater, the Workshop’s theater, [has become] a kind of Mecca, a place of pilgrimage, a destination for the mind, and spirit and body, as great theaters always are. It’s become a kind of sacred space. Its high priest Jim Nicola, whom you have honored today with an award named after a giant of the theater, combines Piscator’s clarity and disciplined purposefulness with Brecht’s profoundly politicized, prodigiously intelligent sensuality.”
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The lure of the past is brought to life in Siem Reap nestled between the
rice paddy countryside along the Siem Reap River that serves as the gateway
to the temple ruins. Officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and once
known as the Khmer Empire it is located in the southern portion of the
Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia bordered by Thailand to the northwest,
Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the
southwest.

Siem Reap has tree lined boulevards, an historical museum and artisan
workshops consisting of art, wood and stone carvings, statues, furniture and
handicrafts. The City is best explored on foot or on a “tuk tuk” (a
rickshaw with the front-end of a motorcycle). Although not luxurious, they
are easy to find and inexpensive.

The Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, a French colonial style
resort designed by Thai architect Choochart Polakit, is situated ten minutes
from the airport and five minutes away from the magnificent temples of Siem
Reap. It showcases intimate living space with timber floors and wrap-around
terraces surrounded by lagoons, landscapes and bright turquoise
mini-fountains, plus an outdoor swimming pool with a swim-up bar, three
restaurants, an 18-hole championship golf course and a spa for rejuvenation.

One of the largest and most important archeological sites in Southeast Asia
is the Angkor Archeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprised of
dozens of ruins including the legendary Angkor Wat. In the darkness of the
night we rode in rickshaws and used flashlights to get to the Angkor Wat
site where we witnessed one of the most mesmerizing sunrises over Angkor
Wat. Afterwards, we continued touring other remains of the Khmer era.

Major highlights of the Park included the Baynon, known for the large number
of smiling faces sculptured on the towers. A journey through one of the
most spectacular ruins at Ta Prohn is a breathtaking site of trees emerging
out of temple walls that become intertwined with the temple stones –
featured in the film “Tomb Raider.” A huge platform known today as Terrace
of the Elephants runs from north to south across the east front of the Royal
Palace. The walls are carved with various scenes of court figures,
elephants and bird-like creatures. Also shown were hunting scenes with
elephants carved into the wall. In several places the elephant appears to
be fighting another creature, possibly a lion.

Upon return to the hotel there was time for visiting the outdoor market
before dinner and the Aspara dancing show at the hotel featuring local
Cambodian/Khmer folk dancers. An Aspara is a female spirit of the clouds
and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
Monday morning we boarded a motor coach for a six-hour transfer from the
Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort to our ship moored at Prek Kdam,
Cambodia. Before embarking on our Mekong River cruise we travelled through
mountain roads viewing numerous rice paddies, oxen, small villages and
outdoor markets. We joined the AmaLotus, our floating hotel for the next
7-nights, in the late afternoon and met fellow passengers at a cocktail
party and dinner. The meals onboard were prepared by local chefs and
consisted of western cuisine as well as Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine.
Wine and beer plus complimentary house brand spirits and soft drinks were
included throughout the cruise at lunch and dinner.
On Tuesday Kampong-Chhnang, one of the central provinces in Cambodia, was
our first stop on the Mekong River. Our tour was a motorboat excursion
along the Tonie Sap River viewing the wetlands, floating houses and fish
farms in the region. After lunch our guide took us on a leisurely walking
tour over dirt paths through the Koh Chen village visiting workshops that
specialize in silver jewelry and artifacts made from copper.
Wednesday we arrived in the city of Oudong, the former capital of Cambodia
and visited a Buddhist Monastery. The main attraction was a mummified monk
in a small chapel near the back of the temple. Inside the Monastery we
received a traditional blessing from Buddhist monks as we sat before them
listening to chanting and prayers and smelled the incense, candles and
flowers. Afterwards, an offering of a red thread was tied around our wrist
– a keepsake that signifies luck and prosperity.
The next stop was Kampong Tralach for the most popular transportation in
Cambodia – an oxcart. The Cambodian farmers use the oxcarts to harvest
crops, carry hay, animals and even their family members. Two of us were in
each cart as we travelled through the rural countryside of Kampong Tralach,
Cambodia for twenty minutes. Handrails were provided for each oxcart and we
were warned to keep our arms inside the cart to avoid arm injuries caused by
cart wheels.
After lunch on Wednesday we set sail for Phnom Penh, the capital and largest
city of Cambodia located on the banks of the Mekong River where we docked
overnight. Thursday morning we toured the Killing Fields. The mass graves
found here contain the remains of thousands of people. Survivor stories can
be heard from an audio tour – the loss of an infant, witness to a killing,
forced to leave home, anger, isolation and hope….
Thursday afternoon our guided tour of Phnom Penh included the Royal Palace,
Silver Pagoda and the National Museum. The Royal Palace, built in 1866, was
the home of the Cambodian King. At the end of the 19th century the Palace
was a small city with thousands of people living in courtyards. Inside the
Silver Pagoda were works of art, sculptures and hundreds of antique gifts
plus a Buddha statute made from pure gold with over 2,000 diamonds attached
to it. The National Museum, built in Khmer Style in 1917 by a French
architect, houses a collection of Khmer art dating from the pre-Angkorian
era.

Friday we cruised the Mekong River from Phnom Penh and crossed the
Cambodian/Vietnamese border before we anchored overnight in Tan Chau,
Vietnam. The next two days were spent touring numerous small cities before
arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for our flight home.

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