Greenpeace International has cautioned that global efforts to protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans and critical ecosystems by 2030 are in danger of falling short unless governments place human rights and Indigenous stewardship at the heart of conservation policy.

According to Greenpeace International, the current conservation strategies are failing because they often exclude the very communities that have historically safeguarded marine ecosystems.

Using decades of working together with Indigenous groups and people living along the coast, the newest report from Greenpeace International titled “Global Ocean Justice Now: Making the Case for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Marine Conservation,” shows that there is a common trend, namely that the territories controlled by local communities have more diverse life forms and better marine ecosystems than territories controlled under top-down or industrial control systems.

Despite this evidence, Greenpeace indicated that many governments continue to prioritise commercial interests and large-scale extraction projects over community-led conservation efforts.

As a result, Indigenous and coastal populations are frequently displaced, marginalised, or ignored, even when they possess generations of knowledge about sustainable resource management. The report concludes that such policies not only undermine human rights but also weaken global biodiversity commitments.

According to Nichanan Tanthanawit, Global Project Lead, Greenpeace Ocean Justice Campaign, conservation targets are increasingly being treated as numerical benchmarks rather than meaningful ecological commitments.

“You cannot claim to protect the ocean while excluding the very communities who have protected these ecosystems for generations. The science is already clear: oceans are healthier where communities have rights, power, and stewardship.”
Nichanan Tanthanawit

Moreover, the international community enters the six-month countdown to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP17 summit in Yerevan, Armenia. At this meeting, countries are expected to assess progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which underpins the global 30×30 target.

Greenpeace warns that COP17 represents a crucial opportunity for governments to correct course and embed Indigenous rights and participation more firmly within global conservation frameworks.

A key concern raised in the report is the rise of so-called “paper parks” protected areas that exist in name only, often mapped on official documents but lacking effective enforcement or resources on the ground. These zones, Greenpeace argues, give the appearance of progress while doing little to prevent ecological degradation. In many cases, conservation initiatives are designed without meaningful consultation with affected communities, leaving them underfunded, poorly implemented, or entirely symbolic.

They further noted that this failure is not accidental but structural. Governments, it argues, routinely overlook community-based conservation systems in favour of development models driven by industry and economic expansion.

In many coastal regions, land and marine spaces are repurposed for industrial projects labelled as national development priorities, even when such activities contribute to habitat destruction, overfishing, and long-term ecological damage.

Greenpeace contends that this approach undermines both environmental sustainability and international commitments to biodiversity protection. By displacing Indigenous Peoples and local communities, states are effectively removing some of the most effective guardians of marine ecosystems, weakening conservation outcomes in the process.

Global Project Lead, Greenpeace Ocean Justice Campaign, highlighted that “Development cannot continue to be defined only through top-down policies.”

“Across the world, coastal communities are already showing the will and leadership to move development and conservation forward on their own terms. Without meaningful participation, 30×30 risks becoming just another number on paper.”
Nichanan Tanthanawit

Greenpeace: Communities Key to Ocean Protection

Moreover, Greenpeace International warned that global marine protection efforts are being undermined by a widening gap between international conservation commitments and industrial activities taking place on the ground, arguing that governments are simultaneously pledging to protect oceans while enabling practices that accelerate ecological damage.

According to Greenpeace, industries such as industrial salmon farming in Patagonia, fish meal production in West Africa, sand extraction in Sri Lanka and large-scale port expansion projects in Southern Thailand reflect a broader contradiction in global environmental governance.

According to Mamadou Kaly Ba, Campaigner, Greenpeace Africa,“Senegal’s coastal communities are facing an unprecedented crisis driven by industrial overfishing, fishmeal and fish oil production, pollution, and offshore oil and gas expansion, all of which threaten our marine ecosystems, food security, and traditional livelihoods.”

“Yet across our coastline, communities are proving that sustainable and community-led marine conservation works when local people are empowered and included in decision-making.
“We urgently need stronger protection for small-scale fisheries, greater recognition of community rights, and a phase out of fishmeal and fish oil production if we are to secure a just and sustainable future for Senegal’s ocean and coastal communities.”
Mamadou Kaly Ba

Moreover, Anita Perera, Campaigner with Greenpeace South Asia, added that despite these challenges, local communities have continued to resist and ultimately secured a landmark presidential decree requiring local consent before any energy project can move forward.

According to her, when frontline communities exercise their right to self-determination, they do more than safeguard biodiversity and also help transform and influence legal and governance systems.