This piece was first published in  Mongabay . I’m in Nice, France, this week attending the   U.N. Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 : Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. If my   Tiaki Moana   colleagues have any say over it, stars and lighthouses are going to be a main topic of conversation here this week. Let me explain. During the  Tiaki Moana  conference in Tahiti last April, we discussed how maritime navigators use many tools to cross the ocean, ranging from stars in the night sky to lighthouses. Olivier Chassot, an official with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), kicked off a discussion of how  marine protected areas  (MPAs) and  marine other effective conservation measures  (mOECMs) — policy tools used by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity to protect the ocean — are like lighthouses and stars, respe...

Speakers and presenters from the "Beyond 30x30" symposium during the 7th International Marine Conservation Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. This piece was first published in Mongabay . In his first week in office back in 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden   signed   a historic commitment to conserve 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. Two years later, the world agreed to a similar commitment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The initiative, commonly known as 30×30, has since become a rallying cry around the world for more and better conservation. But among an avalanche of other executive actions in the past month, President Donald Trump overturned the U.S.’s 30% commitment. Given a chaotic first few weeks, this action went largely unreported, but like many of the things happening in the U.S. right now, it will have global implications. This loss is significant. The U.S.’s 30×30 goal  enshrined  in the America the Beautiful for All initia...

Photo courtesy of John Dos Passos Coggin I was invited to give opening remarks at NOAA's Climate Connections 2.0 on October 29, 2024. Hello everybody, my name is Angelo. Like Hunter said, I live and work here in town for an organization called the Center for American Progress. I direct our ocean policy work and our work with Indigenous communities. I’m originally from the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands and plan to return there one day. 5 years ago last Friday, Super Typhoon Yutu crashed into the southern end of Saipan with sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts of 190 mph. It was the second strongest storm to ever strike the United States and caused 800 million dollars in damages. The storm killed 2 people, left thousands homeless, and tens of thousands without power for months. I had friends and family living in FEMA tents for months on end, and when they say they lost everything they owned, they literally meant everything they owned. As the ocean contin...

I was invited to speak at the 7th International Marine Conservation Congress and chose to speak about the strengths and weaknesses of 30x30 on the ocean.  Sharing my remarks here for posterity. Welcome to the Beyond 30x30 Era This is my first time in South Africa, and I just want to thank our wonderful hosts for welcoming us all here, and for treating us all so well in your home. I also want to thank the SCB marine section, the conference steering committee, and the conference co-chairs for hosting an excellent conference this year. And I want to thank all of you for getting up so early on the last day of the conference to come to hear me speak. My name is Angelo Villagomez, and I live in Washington, DC and work for an organization called the Center for American Progress. My work these days is almost solely focused on the waters of the United States, so I want to recognize that there are people from 72 countries here and that my experience may not be applicable or relatable ...

Edz and I attended the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.  This was my second turn as a delegate from the Northern Mariana Islands.  I was also a pledged Clinton delegate in 20 16.  Edz was not a delegate, but came along for the ride.  As a second time delegate, I had a much better set of expectations heading to Chicago.  The DNC is a chaotic, overwhelming, exhausting experience where you get very little sleep. Our first stop in Chicago after dropping our bags at the hotel was Wrigley Field, where we caught a game between the Cubs and the Blue Jays. I had read that the Daily Show was going to be at the stadium.  I thought that meant they were going to have cameras doing interviews for the show, but they were doing meet and greets with the correspondents.  We went to Wrigleyville two hours before the first pitch and met Desi Lydic and Michael Kosta. There was a delegate party later that night, but only Laila Staffler and I went....

I've been advocating for marine monuments and national marine sanctuaries in the US Pacific territories since 2007.   I've literally been there since the beginning, as  I was seated about 10 feet away from George W. Bush  when he designated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2009.    I am also the conservation chair for the  Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Community Group, founded the Friends of the Mariana Trench, and wrote the nomination for the erstwhile Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary.   I was involved in efforts to expand the Pacific Remote Islands in 2014 and Papahanaumokuakea in 2016.  But  I was not involved in the 2022 effort to ask President Biden to expand the Pacific Remote Islands using the Antiquities Act (although I did review some of their materials ahead of launching their campaign), nor was I involved in nominating the area as a proposed national marine sanctuary. Nation...