The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has long been committed to protecting animals and their natural habitats. For over 50 years, this organization has developed a reputation as one of the most respected and influential environmental groups in the world. As a result, when they offer suggestions, governments tend to listen. The WWF's ability to shape global environmental policies has helped to preserve a number of endangered species, led to the adoption of several international environmental protection treaties, and led to billions of dollars in research on a broad range of environmental matters.

Thus, when the WWF announced the results of a new study regarding ocean preservation and the positive effects this could have for the world economy, many people took notice. The proposal of the report: save the oceans and add hundreds of billions of dollars to the global economy.

According to a study commissioned by WWF, expanding the ocean's protected zones could generate more than $920 billion for the world economy by 2050, while adding 180,000 jobs. That equates to an almost three-fold return on investment for the proposal WWF makes in the study, which amounts to little more than expanding marine protected areas (MPAs).

The study, performed by Amsterdam's VU University, and reported on by the Bangkok Post, found the economic benefits of protecting more of the oceans would far surpass any costs associated with establishing and policing those boundaries. The report went on to say that by reducing damage to the ocean's ecosystem caused by pollution, overfishing, and other environmental concerns, between $490 billion and $920 could be generated in the next 35 years, while simultaneously creating between 150,000 and 180,000 jobs.

The WWF's proposal would require the governments of the world to agree to a protected status for 10 percent of the earth's oceans by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030. Today, a mere four percent of the world's oceans enjoy this protected status.

According to the WWF and the report's authors, MPAs could help attract tourism to coastal regions and stimulate economic growth. They also believe MPAs would support global human population growth by producing fish of greater size and in greater densities that would invariably find their ways into the non-protected parts of the ocean and ultimately onto more dinner plates. Coastal ecosystems may also play a role in capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to reduce global warming.
(economywatch.com)