The Pew Charitable Trusts has appointed William Foster as its next president and chief executive officer, effective 1 March 2027. Foster will succeed Susan K. Urahn, who has led the organisation for 30 years and will continue in her role through February 2027. Foster currently serves as managing partner of The Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit advisory firm. Throughout his career, he has worked with philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, and policymakers to develop strategies and scale impact across various issues. Christopher Jones, chair of Pew's board of directors, praised Foster's understanding of the nonprofit sector and commitment to nonpartisan, evidence-based work. The appointment follows a months-long search conducted by a board-led committee.

Its Ocean Conference should build on recent conservation gains. Delivering on new and existing commitments with financing and implementation is vital to success Article June 10, 2026 3 min While the past year has brought remarkable progress for ocean conservation, what comes next in terms of implementing and sustaining recent marine protections will determine their success. In January, the United Nations high seas treaty entered into force, creating the first comprehensive legal framework to protect biodiversity in the nearly two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any single country's jurisdiction. Months earlier, French Polynesia announced the creation of Tainui Ātea, the world's largest marine protected area (MPA), which includes a network covering more than 1.1 million square kilometers (425,000 square miles) fully safeguarded from extractive activities. French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson also pledged additional protections by World Ocean Day on 8 June. These and other recent national commitments represent encouraging progress toward protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, the "30 by 30" target that nearly every country in the world agreed to under the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In fact, earlier this year, global ocean protection reached 10% - though only about 3.5% of the ocean qualifies as fully or highly protected, the levels that scientists say are needed to deliver the greatest conservation, biodiversity and ecosystem benefits. Of course, announcements alone do not protect the ocean. When governments, scientists, Indigenous peoples and civil society groups gather this month for the 11th Its Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, the central question will be whether new and existing marine protections will deliver the results their backers promised. What happens after the announcement. Effective MPAs are long-term arrangements among governments, communities, scientists and other partners who work together over decades to ensure effective and sustainable conservation. Science shows that MPAs deliver results when they are highly or fully protected, large, well-enforced, given enough time to mature, adequately funded and equitably governed in partnership with local communities. When any of those conditions is missing, ecological benefits weaken and political support eventually does too. Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, a partnership between Swiss philanthropist and ocean advocate Dona Bertarelli and The Pew Charitable Trusts, has worked for more than a decade with governments and coastal communities to create large-scale MPAs, including building the financing, governance and local capacity those protections need to endure. The more than 20 MPAs that the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy has helped establish or expand now account for roughly 90% of the ocean that is currently under full or high protection. That partnership works in concert with others, including Blue Nature Alliance, a collaboration collectively led by Pew, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Minderoo Foundation and the Rob Walton Foundation that helps advance ocean conservation areas from designation to effective management. Since 2020, the alliance has supported the creation, expansion or improved the management of more than 160 ocean conservation areas as part of the goal of helping secure the effective conservation of 5% of the global ocean - 18 million square kilometers. For both Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy and Blue Nature Alliance, work on protected areas begins with involving the local people and communities that would be most affected by the changes. For Pew to support a conservation area, it must benefit the coastal communities that depend on the ocean and must align with their priorities. 3 ways Its Ocean Conference can succeed. Governments and others preparing for the Its Ocean Conference in Mombasa should focus on three priorities: Financing. The largest constraint on effective ocean protection is the financial gap between what's needed to meet conservation commitments and the money available to do so. Despite an uptick in funding in recent years, global funding levels still fall billions of dollars short of what's needed. Some solutions to this challenge have emerged. For example, the 2023 Galápagos debt-for-nature conversion, which Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy helped develop, is forecast to generate more than $450 million for marine conservation. Likewise, arrangements known as project finance for permanence agreements, which lock in all financial, policy and community commitments simultaneously to fund and protect entire ecosystems for generations to come, are proving successful around the world. Other blended finance models also show promise to put conservation on stable, long-term footing. The ocean is a global commons and, while private philanthropy can help protect it, government funding is needed to ensure sufficient, long-term marine conservation. Implementation capacity. A growing body of research confirms that an MPA's success depends above all on whether it has the staffing and budget to be actively managed. This stewardship includes training managers, equipping monitoring teams and supporting Indigenous and community-led management systems. Done right, this work can make the difference between an area that's protected in name only and one that delivers conservation and community gains. Integration. MPAs do not exist in isolation. They sit within broader systems of fisheries management, coastal development and climate adaptation. Ultimately, the U.N. high seas treaty's success will depend in part on how it is implemented and integrated with regional fisheries bodies, sectoral organizations and national maritime governance arrangements. Coherent ocean conservation requires that these systems work together, not in parallel. Follow the science. Effective and lasting protections draw on the best available science and evidence, and that includes local knowledge passed down through generations in local and Indigenous communities. Pew - through its partnerships - will continue to support all aspects of this conservation in places where governments and communities have invited its support. Delegates at the Its Ocean Conference in Mombasa have an opportunity to build on recent progress and should do so with the above-mentioned priorities in mind. By doing so, they can help move the global community closer to the 30 by 30 target and benefit coastal communities, commercial fisheries and all who depend on a healthy ocean. Matt Rand oversees The Pew Charitable Trusts' large-scale marine habitat conservation work. Media contact. Felisa Klubes Director, Communications

Marine conservation success in Africa could serve as model worldwide. Our Ocean Conference in Kenya offers chance to showcase results of strong partnerships Article June 8, 2026 2 min Nothing about ocean conservation is easy. Every step - from idea to commitment to protected area financing, design, implementation and enforcement - requires persistence, coordination and collaboration. So when most of the world's governments committed in 2022 to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030, they were rightly lauded for their high ambition. Now, four years later, the focus is shifting to delivering on that commitment: Are new marine protections in place, effectively managed and sufficiently financed? And is this conservation being led - as it should be - by the local communities most affected by these decisions? Some encouraging answers to these questions are emerging from Africa, which for the first time will host the annual Our Ocean Conference, 16-18 June in Mombasa, Kenya. For example, the government of Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands, has already protected more than 30% of its waters. The country achieved this in part through a 2015 debt conversion - the first sovereign one designed solely for marine protection - and an equally innovative bond issuance, also dedicated to ocean protection. Today, the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust is working with the government and partners - including The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Blue Nature Alliance, a collaboration led by Pew, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, Minderoo Foundation and the Rob Walton Foundations - to stand up governance bodies, complete management plans and build surveillance and monitoring capacity. Such follow-through is a model for moving from pioneering financing to effective, community-led ocean protection that also supports working fisheries and local cultures. In the Gulf of Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo co-created a transboundary marine park along one of the most biodiverse stretches of African coastline. Supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Blue Nature Alliance, and national partners, the governments are working to strengthen management of the park and establish ocean conservation areas. The area is home to the largest leatherback turtle nesting grounds on the continent and more than 70 species of sharks and rays. The Wildlife Conservation Society, an international nonprofit, has worked in this region for three decades, building the deep trust needed to collaborate effectively with the Gabon and Republic of Congo governments. And along islands of the Western Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa, where roughly 60 million people live within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the shore, the Blue Nature Alliance - working with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, a regional ocean-focused nonprofit organization, and a range of local partners - is supporting community-led management of nearly 190,000 square kilometres of ocean, which includes existing marine protected areas. Part of this work involves mapping seagrass meadows, along with training and exchanges of experts and staff. This region is also recognizing the value of coastal habitats, and the importance of having the data and capacity to protect them. Worldwide, seagrass meadows, mangroves and salt marshes are the only coastal ecosystems that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognizes for measurable carbon storage. They also buffer storms, hold shorelines in place and provide nursery, habitat and feeding grounds for 20% of the world's largest fisheries. Comprehensive mapping data has already helped the Seychelles government to protect its seagrass meadows. That in turn has inspired a region-wide project, called the Large-Scale Seagrass Mapping and Management Initiative, to produce standardized seagrass maps and carbon assessment in each country, and to expand capacity in seagrass science broadly. Pew is working on that project with the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, the University of Southampton and national research institutions across Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania (including Zanzibar). These examples help illustrate the elements of successful conservation: national governments working with local groups, scientific experts, international organizations and regional bodies on protections that help people and nature. With 2030 on the horizon, the next four years will determine whether governments around the world can follow the models that are yielding results and meet their own ambitious commitments. The Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa offers a chance for world leaders to learn from each other about what's working, and to redouble their focus on turning a vision for a better future into reality. Tom Dillon is a senior vice president with The Pew Charitable Trusts, leading the organization's work on conservation and environment initiatives around the world. Receive our best conservation research bi-weekly - stunning photos, wins, and action alerts. Media contact. Felisa Klubes Director, Communications