The Lost City
The Lost City Initiative is currently seeking philanthropic and institutional partners to bring this ambitious vision to life.
The Lost City is the only place of its kind ever found on Earth.
Rising from the Atlantic seafloor for 120,000 years, the Lost City is one of Earth’s rarest ecosystems. Its future is in our hands. This extraordinary hydrothermal vent field is home to life found nowhere else and may hold clues to the origins of life itself. Discovered in 2000, the Lost City has fascinated researchers, adventurers, and ocean lovers alike. Its towering white chimneys and otherworldly landscape stir the imagination, evoking visions of Atlantis and the mysteries of the deep.
A World Wonder Under Threat
The Lost City now faces an unprecedented threat:
Protecting it is not just conservation. It is safeguarding a part of our planet that has endured for millennia.
- Mining exploration licenses granted nearby by the International Seabed Authority could unleash sediment plumes, toxic runoff, and other disturbances.
- These impacts could devastate this fragile ecosystem before the wider world even knows it exists.
- Beyond its scientific value, the Lost City supports unique life forms and migratory species, making it a cathedral of biodiversity in the deep ocean.
Protecting it is not just conservation. It is safeguarding a part of our planet that has endured for millennia.
Photos courtesy of NOAA and Schmidt Ocean Institute
A Historic Opportunity to Protect It
The High Seas Treaty, now in force, makes it possible for the first time to establish Marine Protected Areas beyond national waters. The Lost City is an exceptional candidate. Protecting it would set a powerful global precedent. It would affirm that some places are too ecologically significant, too scientifically valuable, and too irreplaceable to be opened to deep-sea mining.
The Lost City Initiative
©Mastertux
Our Goal
We aim to secure the Lost City as one of the first High Seas Marine Protected Areas. This will:
- Preserve its extraordinary ecosystems for future generations.
- Recognize its value not as a resource to exploit, but as a shared treasure for all life on Earth.
- Ensure human activity in international waters respects the deep ocean’s integrity.
The Lost City Initiative is a global creative campaign connecting people to the deep sea through art, science, and education. We raise awareness, inspire curiosity, and promote collective stewardship of this extraordinary place.
Key pillars of our approach:
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ART AND PEOPLE POWER
Engage artists and musicians worldwide through the Artists' Pledge for the Deep, calling for:
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INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENT (pending funding)
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EDUCATION AND EXPLORATION
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©KMintop
Our Partners
The Ocean and Us brings together leading artists, scientists, and partners who share a vision of ocean protection.
Together, we can transform awareness into action and preserve this extraordinary world for generations to come.
Brian Eno • Beatie Wolfe • Donna Grantis • Rosalin Kuiper
Together, we can transform awareness into action and preserve this extraordinary world for generations to come.
Brian Eno • Beatie Wolfe • Donna Grantis • Rosalin Kuiper
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Help Protect The Lost City |
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Become a founding partner and help shape one of the most visionary ocean protection efforts of this decade. Support the initiative and transform global awareness into lasting protection.
Your support helps us mobilize global attention, drive policy change, and create a lasting legacy for one of the planet’s most fragile and extraordinary ecosystems. |
Protect imagination. Protect the ocean.
Protect the Lost City.
The deep sea holds the memory of our planet and the promise of our future.
It is the origin of life and a source of resilience for all living beings. Together, we can make the Lost City a symbol of hope, creativity, and shared responsibility. Proof that humanity can still choose wonder over destruction.
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