A global treaty to protect the high seas has reached its ratification goal, with environmentalists calling for the Sargasso Sea to be one of the first areas protected.

Noelle Young, a local environmental justice activist, said that protecting the Sargasso Sea — described by some as a golden floating rainforest — would mean a great deal for Bermuda.

“The Sargasso Sea is our backyard,” she said. “It is our playground, it’s our breadbasket.

“Protecting the Sargasso Sea means protecting our cultural heritage, our environment and our economy.

“It means protecting everything that we are and could become, our future and our past.”

After years of campaigning, the United Nations High Seas Treaty received its 60th ratification last week and is now set to come into effect on January 17, 2026.

Sri Lanka and St Vincent and the Grenadines ratified the treaty last week, with Morocco’s signing on Friday pushing it over the line. Sierra Leone followed as the 61st party to the pact, the UN said.

The treaty proposed that 30 per cent of the world’s high seas — areas outside of any nation’s exclusive economic zone — be turned into marine protected areas.

The document was formally signed in 2023 but could not take effect until at least 60 countries ratified it, which meant they are legally bound by it.

Ms Young said the backing of international legislation to protect the oceans was unprecedented and she was optimistic that Britain would soon join the list of nations to ratify the treaty.

“While the UK are not on the list yet, they have begun the process,” she said.

“I’m very hopeful that they will agree to the treaty and make the Sargasso Sea around Bermuda a marine protected area.

“The UK does have plans to ratify the treaty so that they can take part in the first UN Conference of Parties in June, which means there is a rush to get it done.”

Ms Young said that it was important for Bermudians to know that discussions about the future of oceans around the island remained under way and that real consultation must still take place.

“Treaties may give nations legal tools but it is people who will give them life,” she said.

“Ratification of a treaty is not a finish line, it is just the tide turning.

“For the High Seas Treaty to be effective, it must be binding, continuous and rooted in respect for local communities.

“The sea has always been a teacher, reminding us that currents only flow forward when many waters move together.

“A prime example of how this treaty must be powered, by the voices of all nations, not just the privileged few.

“It also means resourcing communities properly. Consultation without capacity is just performance.

“Lived experience is hands-on expertise and it must be recognised as such.”

Greenpeace UK, which sailed to Bermuda last year as part of a campaign to have the Sargasso Sea declared an ocean sanctuary through the agreement, celebrated the treaty’s milestone and urged Britain to ratify quickly.

The British Government introduced the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill to Parliament this month, which would allow the UK to also ratify the treaty if passed.

Chris Thorne, a senior oceans campaigner with Greenpeace UK, said: “While nations around the world celebrate this environmental breakthrough, the UK is chasing the leading group of ratifying countries.

“The ocean is in urgent peril, along with its rich wildlife and the coastal communities that depend on it.

“It is more vital than ever that the UK signs the treaty into law by the end of the year and doesn’t risk missing the first Ocean Conference of Parties.

“The Government can then show global leadership by putting forward ambitious proposals to fully protect huge areas of the ocean such as 30 per cent of the Atlantic, including the Sargasso Sea.”

Ms Young added that the ratification of the treaty capped off a milestone week for her personally because she was participating in the North America Global Ethical Stocktake in New York when the announcement was made.

The event, organised under the UN Climate Convention, sought to incorporate ethical issues such as equality into the broader climate discussion.

Ms Young said that she was told by delegates at the event that her film, From The Sea We Came, had helped to make an impact on the push for ocean conservation.

“It was surreal,” she said. “It really was. I would say that everything that has happened in the past few weeks has been surreal.

“I am so grateful for the community of Bermuda. None of this would have been possible if the community had not come together over the past year.

“The community has been the driving force.”