Conserving and developing marine biodiversity

The sea covers more than 70% of the earth's surface and the diverse life within it contributes greatly to human wellbeing by providing ecosystems services (e.g. 70% of the oxygen we breathe, climate regulation) and living resources (e.g. fish) upon which we depend.

Marine ecosystems are however facing unprecedented biodiversity loss globally as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, overfishing and climate change.

The loss of marine ecosystem services resulting from biodiversity loss specially affects coastal communities in developing countries, since marine resource exploitation often represents their livelihoods, main source of animal protein and cultural identity.

Preserving marine biodiversity is therefore a major concern worldwide.

One of the main challenges relies on the fact that many marine biodiversity hotspots (i.e. areas that have large numbers of endemic species and are heavily threatened by habitat loss) are in developing tropical and subtropical countries.

Conservation of marine resources is however recognised as key for the sustainable development of coastal communities in poor countries.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have gained international consensus for marine biodiversity conservation and restoration.

In developing countries, MPAs are widely recognised as a tool to provide food security and build resilience against climate change impacts such as coastal erosion, for which they are particularly vulnerable.

with just over 2% of our oceans currently protected and many MPAs suffering from poor management, there is still a long way to go.

The challenges ahead require a global commitment to reverse the loss of marine biodiversity urgently.

We know much less about the ocean than about land ecosystems and this has translated into relatively delayed conservation science and actions.

We simply need to look back and around for successful examples and use those to create the momentum to improve our contribution to preserve and restore marine biodiversity, for the present and future sustainability of the environment and human development.

Biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems should be included in eradicating poverty and achieving the internationally agreed goals related strategies.

Modern conservation norms such as environmental impact assessment (EIA), marine protected areas, marine spatial planning and development mechanisms such as technology transfer and capacity building are under developed in the legal

Fisheries governance arrangements exhibit considerable diversity and varying rates of progress in their approaches to incorporating environmental protection principles and biodiversity conservation objectives into their management regimes.

A number of global and regional initiatives have been taken over the last decade to address some of the gaps and disconnects in the legal and institutional framework for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in ABNJ.

The industry proposing the activity and the national flag state jurisdiction are often far from the marine area affected

The variable standards of compliance among states with environmental assessment obligations in international conventions.

There are a range of options for incorporating a legal and institutional framework for the two key biodiversity conservation elements.

This element of the agreement could require State Parties and competent regional and sectoral organisations to coordinate sectoral area-based measures and to integrate their plans to achieve healthy oceans and marine ecosystems with minimal loss of and adverse impacts on marine biodiversity