Lauren Mitchell
1) Watersheds ignore political boundaries and many overlap multiple provinces/states/countries
how do you think this will affect ocean conservation goals?
Borders are defined as “a line dividing two politcal or geographical areas, especially countries,” by the Oxford Dictionary. However, borders, other than physical geographical ones, such as the Rocky Mountains, are just something humans have made up. But for this reason, sometimes things surrounding these borders get messy. And as far as conservation goes, it isn’t much better. A great example is The Pacific Salmon Treaty. This treaty was implemented due to countries competing for resources that found themselves crossing or outside of countries borders. The interception of salmon not only threw off natural cycles and the fisheries’ economy, but greatly disrupted both Canada and The United States respective conservation efforts. The solution, which is always hard to come to, was countries joining forces and working together for a common goal. This situation is applicable to other areas of ocean conservation. As the ocean is something we, as global citizens, share, that makes it something we all have to come together and work to save together.
-Lauren Mitchell, Point Grey Secondary
