Time to celebrate! As the IUCN World Conservation Congress ended last week, the global conservation community voted in favor of critical shark conservation measures for threatened shark species including species-specific steps needed to protect mako and hammerhead sharks.

The Congress, held from 6 to 15 September in Jeju, Korea drew more than 10,600 participants from 1,100 government and non-government groups, making it the largest Congress ever.  We joined leaders from over 180 countries who gathered to set the world’s conservation agenda.

As a democratic union, the Congress is the only platform where non profits and governments are practically on an equal footing. Project AWARE, as an international NGO member representing divers and ocean advocates worldwide, has 2 votes to affect change. Governments have 3 votes each.

Project AWARE sponsored a successful motion asking countries to ensure sustainability of mako shark populations by limiting catches, developing regional conservation plans; and coordinating between fisheries and wildlife management authorities. And we were proud to collaborate with MarViva, Pew Environment Group, and Pretoma on the motions they sponsored to help propel change for sharks at all levels: from national measures to protections from international trade.

Thank you for your support. Together we’re making powerful arguments for change where it counts the most.