Happy Holidays and thank you for all you do to create a healthier blue planet!

It has been a year of significant progress and exciting opportunities to collaborate with partner organizations in our growing global network, to individually and collectively take action for a better future. Together we are making an impact!

Thank you, too, to our Supporters who are also recognized as Sponsors of World Oceans Day and recognized as leaders for conservation.  Your contributions help us to advance ocean conservation in collaboration with aquariums, zoos, museums, youth, and other partners in our growing global network, now numbering approximately 2,000 organizations in 150 countries!

Everything The Ocean Project does is based on the values of collaboration, innovation, persistence, and a respect for all people and life on our blue planet. We strive to enhance capacity at our partner institutions and scale solutions within and beyond our network, ensuring that our efforts add maximum value to local, regional, national, and global conservation movements.

This past year we focused on the following priority initiatives, which we look forward to collaborating with you on in 2019, to support your mission and grow collective conservation impact:

• Collaborative conservation campaigns with aquariums and zoos. We continue to work with our partners to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative conservation campaigns, with an emphasis on improving public engagement and increasing both the number of participating institutions and the impact of their efforts. Thanks in part to support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, in 2018 we launched a conservation policy and advocacy campaign, which we will grow over the next two years! Also, NOAA recently published this overview highlighting our work with aquariums and zoos.

• Youth for the Ocean. Youth engagement and leadership development continues to develop as one of our top priorities. This year, with support from Procter & Gamble we launched Youth for the Ocean as an overarching collaborative initiative to assist in growing a global youth movement, working closely with aquariums, zoos, and other youth-focused organizations worldwide. We’re continuing to bring new opportunities to our partners, such as Sea Youth Rise Up, which empowers young people to become ocean champions and provides them with opportunities to connect with policymakers as well as corporate leaders.

• World Oceans Day. 2018 was a record year, thanks in great part to the World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council (YAC) – now including 24 amazing young people from 20 countries – and our Supporters.  World Oceans Day 2018 was the biggest and most impactful yet, with plastic pollution prevention and solutions as the conservation action focus for the fourth straight year. Millions celebrated and took action at over 1,500 events in 140 countries, and there were over 5.5 billion impressions on social media around 8 June. Please see the World Oceans Day 2018 Annual Report. Stay tuned for more soon about World Oceans Day 2019!

For 20 years The Ocean Project’s been supporting our network of partners to effectively help with solutions, from personal behavior change to community engagement and policy and societal level improvements. “Together we can” is a phrase that guides us daily in how we go forward in our work with you and others in our growing global network, effectively addressing the challenges and embracing the opportunities for bringing about a better world. Together, with you and our partners worldwide, we can – and will – help bring about a healthy ocean and a sustainable and civically-engaged society.

Thank you for your involvement and we look forward to working closely with you in 2019!