Just announced, UNT's Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program in Chile won a 2019 Ocean Award! The Judges' Special Award was given for the creation of the Diego Ramirez-Drake Passage Marine Park, established in January 2018 at the southern end of the continental shelf of the American continent. The park is the 25th marine protected area in Chile, the seventh in Patagonia, and the largest such park in South America, extending over 144,390 square kilometres that include the marine habitats of the Diego Ramirez archipelago and protect the rich biodiversity of the area.

The Diego Ramirez-Drake Passage Marine Park, implemented in collaboration with the Chilean Navy, the Ministry of National Assets, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Economy, and the Regional Government, provides a unique refuge for the protection of threatened and endangered species like the Grey-headed albatross and southern rockhopper penguins. It also grants legal protection to the submerged continental escarpment that dramatically drops into the Drake Passage off the southern coast of Chile, as well as the South Pacific Ocean's most important underwater mountain, Sars Seamount. The collaborative research and responsibility of the park integrates a multiple-dimensional concept of sustainability to confront current, challenging times of global socio-environmental change.

For more information about the Ocean Award, check out the announcement online here.