40 years of ocean cooperation, and the Indian Ocean just leveled up

Ten Western Indian Ocean nations wrapped up the Nairobi Convention's 40th-anniversary meeting in Dar es Salaam this week with real commitments: 7 of the 10 have ratified the High Seas Treaty (in force since January), 18,000 hectares of mangroves are already restored, and new marine protections were tabled. Tanzania's vice president, Deogratius Ndejembi, speaking for President Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the region's 65 million coastal people depend on these waters — an ocean economy worth an estimated $300 billion.