Power of the People?

In 2011, the global communitywitnessed a groundswell of political change and reform that few thought was ever possible given how firmly entrenched these regimes were in North Africa and the Middle East. The ‘Arab Spring’ came to fruition by the will of people and their desire to change their lives and reverse the seemingly ever downward trajectory of their society and economies, and reject the status quo. We saw how this revolution moved from one country to the next leading to a series of unprecedented protests and civil disobedience in over 15 nations across the Middle East. However, all of this would not have had the pace and momentum it did without the use of personal technology (i.e. mobile phones), the internet and social media. These communication platforms and media made it possible to quickly organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of repression and internet censorship (Howards, 2011). The imagery and information (i.e. data) came at almost real time and fuelled the winds of change, not without consequences but change nonetheless. The speed and force with which the data were forthcoming had analysts and media outlets scrambling to try to process the volume of information in order to assess the magnitude of the events, predict potential outcomes, and mobilize others (including foreign governments) into action. At the same time, citizens of other countries became empowered and motivated to take action themselves as they watched and listened to eye-witness reports through the internet (e.g. YouTube) that were obtained using a mobile phone camera, and read of the plight of their comrades, via Facebook and Twitter. I highlight this current event as it underscores the power of people and crowd-sourcing to make fundamental shifts in society, which a year ago any one of us would have thought to be impossible. This comes at a time when we are reminded, on almost a daily basis, that the ocean is being assaulted by a number of stressors (e.g. overfishing and nutrient/sediment run off) which, when added to those associated with climate change, puts the world’s ocean at a very high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history (Rogers and Laffoley, 2011). While I do not dispute the validity and high probability of this, especially having witnessed considerable decline in the health and biodiversity of the ocean in the last three decades, I reject that this is a fait accompli. While ocean related media grabbing headlines may sell newspapers, and attract research funds, they also further deepen a sense of hopelessness and apathy among those who are the solution – people. I cannot help feel as a marine conservation and science community that we are not providing enough options, being more solution orientated and considering ways to empower people to make the changes necessary to move away from the extinction prophecy which may lie on our horizon if we do not change. (Vincent, 2011), in a recent editorial for this journal, noted that we need to find new ways to help people recognize and respond to their connections with the ocean, and I could not agree more. Yet this is no easy task and success is dependent on our ability to resolve many of the drivers of ocean stressors, such as the focused drive for economic prosperity and wellbeing,