The ocean covers more than 70% of our planet, a total of 139 million square miles. An initiative launched on Tuesday aims to protect 5% of it in the next five years.

That might sound like a drop, but at 7 million square miles, it's a larger area than the entire continent of South America. And considering that by some estimates less than 3% of global ocean is currently fully protected, both the target and the timeframe is ambitious.

The initiative, named the –1-- Nature Alliance, has "a very audacious goal," says M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, one of the organizations leading the program. "It's probably the largest single conservation effort in terms of size and speed."

A collaboration between Conservation International and other environmental and social non-profits -- including The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Global Environment Facility, Minderoo Foundation, and the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation -- the –1-- Nature Alliance has raised $125 million to protect the ocean from these threats.

The Alliance has started by targeting seven ocean. Those areas cover over 2.5 million square miles in total -- more than a third of the overall goal.

It says it will begin by focusing on conservation in these areas, working with local communities and national leaders to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs), and improve the management of existing ones.

Efforts from the –1-- Nature Alliance will contribute towards a global conservation initiative to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, a goal expected to be ratified at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference later this year. Research suggests that that this level of protection is required to maintain biodiversity and marine ecosystems.