Credit_Deep Atlantic Stepping Stones Science Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com Team_IFE_URI_NOAA_no3 Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com Credit: Sarah Gotheil, IUCN Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) Working towards high seas conservation Kristina Maria Gjerde IUCN High Seas Policy Advisor Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com Credit: Imène Meliane, IUCN Photo Library Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com Credit: Robert L. Pitman (NOAA) Credit: John Weller, john@lastocean.com UNICPOLOS 11 June 21, 2010
Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA DEEP SEA, OPEN OCEAN
Institute of Marine Reserach, Bergen, Norway 95% of the planet, less than 1% explored.
CRUCIAL ROLE OF HEALTHY OCEANS IN CLIMATE CHANGE Absorbed 95% of sun s radiation Removed 25% of CO2 between 2000-2007 Main buffer to climate change and will likely bear greatest burden of impacts Ocean health influences the capacity of oceans to absorb carbon FAO, CBD, UNEP, UNDP, World Bank et al., 2009, Fisheries and Aquaculture in our Changing Climate ftp://ftp.fao.org/fi/brochure/climate_change /policy_brief.pdf hanging Climate
HIGH SEAS, THE SEABED AREA
CBD COP9 Decision 20 (2008) Annex I: Site Criteria Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) 1. Uniqueness / rarity 2. Special importance for life history of species 3. Importance for threatened, endangered or declining species / habitats 4. Vulnerability, fragility, sensitivity, or slow recovery 5. Biological productivity 6. Biological diversity 7. Naturalness Credit: Deep Atlantic Stepping Stones Science Team_IFE_URI_NOAA
CBD COP9 Decision 20 (2008) Annex II: MPA Network Guidance 1. EBSAs (site criteria) 2. Representativity 3. Connectivity 4. Replication 5. Adequacy / viability Credit: Deep Atlantic Stepping Stones Science Team_IFE_URI_NOAA
UN WORKING GROUP February 2010: on Area-based Management Recognize the importance of establishing MPAs consistent with international law and based on scientific information, including representative networks by 2012; Call upon states to work through competent international organizations towards the development of a common methodology for the identification and selection of marine areas that may benefit from protection based on existing criteria, with a view to facilitating achievement of the 2012 MPA target
UN WORKING GROUP February 2010: on Environmental Impact Assessments Recognize the importance of EIA, in particular for the implementation of the ecosystem and precautionary approaches; Request information on EIA undertaken for planned activities in ABNJ, including capacity-building needs, Recognize the importance of further developing scientific and technical guidance on the implementation of EIA on planned activities in ABNJ, including consideration of assessments of cumulative impacts.
CBD SBSTTA RECOMMENDATIONS to the 10 th Conference of Parties May 2010 Prepare guidelines on EIAs and SEAs Adopt guidance on identification of significant areas Urge cooperation to identify and protect significant areas Outline process to create global inventory of significant areas Convene /sponsor regional workshops Build capacity development tools
LINKING SCIENCE TO POLICY Larry Madin Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
LINKING COASTS TO HIGH SEAS INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE 12 Credit: Lisa Morse, Marine Photobank
New ways of observing the living ocean Tagging and tracking large predators across the Pacific (www.topp.org)
EBSA ILLUSTRATIONS Credit: Pat Halpin, MGEL
GLOBAL OCEAN BIODIVERSITY INITIATIVE
INITIATIVE BACKGROUND International partnership advancing the scientific basis for conserving biological diversity in the deep seas and open oceans Builds on the CBD scientific criteria adopted at CBD COP 9 in 2008 Helps to identify ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSA) in need of protection beyond national jurisdiction Supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) during the German Presidency of the CBD
Advisory Board SCBD FAO GEF IMO IOC ISA UNEP UNDP INITIATIVE STRUCTURE Coordination IUCN EBSA ANALYSES and MAPS To be presented at: - CBD SBSTTA 14 (2010) - CBD COP 10 (2010) - CBD COP 11 (2012) Science Board AquaMaps BirdLife International Census of Marine Life CenSeam CSIRO Duke University, MGEL IOC/UNESCO MCBI OBIS TOPP UNEP-WCMC UNU-IAS Data, Research, EBSA Analyses & Meta-analyses
GOBI BROCHURE «Working Towards High Seas Conservation»
THANK YOU! kgjerde@eip.com.pl www.iucn.org/marine www.gobi.org Robert Pitman, NOAA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Carole Durussel Patricio Bernal Anna Rulska-Domino And the many GOBI partners Supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)