Blue Boundaries
Protecting Earth’s vital ecosystems at the intersection of land and water.
The National Geographic Society and the Chubb Charitable Foundation are partnering together to drive transformational change for vital ecosystems at the intersection of land and water.
The Blue Boundaries program focuses on safeguarding three of Earth’s most vital ecosystems — freshwater wetlands, coastal systems and reefs — through on-location research and conservation projects, paired with compelling storytelling and innovative education. To learn more about our partnership with the Chubb Charitable Foundation, visit their website.
Where Land Meets Water
Together, these "Blue Boundary" environments are critical to the health of the planet on local, regional and global scales, providing essential services that support both people and nature.
Freshwater wetlands, coastal systems and reefs form intricate and interconnected networks of life that follow the flow of water and nutrients connecting upland watersheds to nearshore seas.
Nearly half of all Earth’s species call these habitats home, creating extraordinary biodiversity that depends on a crucial group of wildlife known as “ecosystem engineers.” These ecosystem engineers — iconic species like jaguars, manatees, woodpeckers and penguins — are the architects that actively shape and maintain the landscapes essential for countless other species to thrive.
“Blue Boundary” environments also provide critical nurseries for fisheries as well as clean water, resources and coastal resilience that nourish and protect billions of people, while playing a critical role in storing carbon and regulating the climate.
Building Lasting Resilience
Led by a cohort of National Geographic Explorers, the Blue Boundaries program encompasses scientific research, conservation work, education initiatives and impact storytelling to address the planet’s most pressing challenges. Working in partnership with local communities, these Explorers will help co-create innovative and scalable solutions that are informed by science and grounded in local knowledge.
Blue Boundaries is being implemented in a phased approach, with strategic overlap throughout the partnership, starting with freshwater wetlands and then moving to coastal systems, culminating in reef environments. This approach mirrors the downstream flow of water that connects life and ecological processes, underscoring the interdependence of these environments.
Biodiversity is the cornerstone to healthy ecosystems and core to the program are ecosystem engineers, the protagonists of these ecosystem species that play an outsized role by physically modifying, creating or maintaining habitats and act as early indicators of ecosystem change. Research focuses on identifying the most critical species in these ecosystems and how they may help indicate their collapse before it happens, because safeguarding these keystone species delivers an outsized conservation impact.
Blue Boundaries is shaped by four foundational pillars, which unites all Explorers working across the Blue Boundaries. Those pillars include:
- Biodiversity
- Carbon Dynamics
- Ecosystem Resistance and Resilience
- Socioecological health
A Southern sea otter mother and her pup floating in the waters of Morro Bay, California in 2017. Sea otters are not only cute and playful, but are critical ecosystem engineers. As top predators, they serve as guardians of underwater kelp forests by controlling the population of sea urchins to maintain ecosystem balance.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Marc Moritsch.
The Agusan Marshlands is the largest inland wetland in the Philippines. Wildlife including hundreds of avian species coming from corners of Japan, and the largest recorded saltwater crocodile in the world, share their home with indigenous and local communities.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Gab Mejia
A jaguar on a trail in Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador. Jaguars serve as ecosystem engineers by shaping prey populations and landscape evolution in floodplain wetlands.
PHOTOGRAPH BY steve winter
Surf breaking on the coral reef that rings Bora-Bora. Coastal systems are among the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, serving as important breeding grounds and nurseries for marine life as well as supporting the livelihoods of over 600 million people globally.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Jodi Cobb
An American beaver moves through a flooded canal in Montana’s Centennial Valley. Through the building of lodges and dams, beavers are ecosystem engineers because they change the flow of water in ways that benefit many other species in their environment.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Ronan Donovan
A school of fish swims over coral in the Jessie Beazley Reef in the Philippines.
As coastline ecosystems transition to fully marine environments, many regions are marked by intricate and expansive reefs. These reefs create dynamic interactions between the input of land-based nutrients and its consumption by marine life, creating the ocean’s most biodiverse environments.
PHOTOGRAPH BY David Doubilet
Latest Updates
Blue Boundaries Press Release
Hear from National Geographic and Chubb leadership on how Blue Boundaries advances a common interest in this press release.
Photo credits (from top of page): Justin Guariglia, Bertie Gregory, Marc Moritsch, Gab Mejia, Steve Winter, Jodi Cobb, Ronan Donovan, David Doubilet, Paul Nicklen