UNEP Regional Sea report
Outlines Outlook for Action
Nagoya/Japan, 19 October 2010-The environmental
and economic health of the World Seas-present
and future-is outlined today in a report
that underlines growing
concern from pressures such as pollution,
over-fishing and climate change.
The report, the Marine
Biodiversity Assessment and Outlook: Global
Synthesis by the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) predicts that by 2050 productivity
will have decreased in nearly all areas
and with it fish catches. Worldwide fisheries
will be heavily dominated by smaller species
lower down the food chain.
Meanwhile climate change,
if unchecked, could see surface sea temperatures
rise by 2100 with important implications
for coral reefs and other temperature-sensitive
marine organisms.
Other predicted changes
include a continued and widespread increase
in nitrogen levels.
This is linked with
discharges of wastewaters and agricultural
run off from the land and, to an extent,
emissions from vehicles and shipping.
Nitrogen can trigger
algal blooms which in turn can poison fish
and other marine creatures as well as contribute
to the development of so called 'dead zones'-areas
of sea with low oxygen concentrations. These
areas have increased since the mid-1960s
and now cover an estimated 246,000 km2.
The report also flags
concerns over the rise in marine invasive
species, transported to regions from elsewhere
often in ballast water of ships or attached
to its hull. Furthermore, it highlights
that the cumulative impacts of all of these
factors will have serious consequences in
the rise of extinctions of native marine
species across all regions.
The continuing decline
in marine biodiversity will compromise the
resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems
to the impacts of climate change, as well
as their ability to mitigate the effects
of climate change, says the report released
alongside individual regional seas reports
at the 10th Conference of the Parties to
the Convention on Biological Diversity in
Nagoya, Japan.
Why will extinctions
happen?
Other areas of concern
are linked with the fate of shell-building
marine organisms, such as corals and copepods
at the base of the food chain, as a result
of rising concentrations of C02-so-called
acidification.
Such organisms need
minerals like aragonite to make their calcium
skeletons. There is already evidence that
concentrations of aragonite is falling across
the regions as atmospheric C02 concentrations
increase and are absorbed by the oceans-a
trend that is set to continue and at ever
lower depths unless global greenhouse gas
emissions are significantly reduced.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"Decoupling growth from rising levels
of pollution is the number one challenge
facing this generation-this is nowhere more
starkly spotlighted than in the current
and future health of the world's sea and
oceans."
"Multi-trillion
dollar services, including fisheries, climate-control
and ones underpinning industries such as
tourism are at risk if impacts on the marine
environment continue unchecked and unabated.
Governments are rising to the challenge
through actions under the Regional Seas
Conventions and Action Plans. This global
report, based on 18 regional reports, underlines
that ambition and actions now need to match
the scale and the urgency of the challenge,"
he said.
Way Forward
The Global Synthesis
report forms a baseline for understanding
the main drivers of change and management
responses relating to marine biodiversity.
Given that the nature
and dynamics of oceans are transboundary,
actions must be taken by all regions. While
there are good regional examples, the report
identified that management performance in
many areas is generally insufficient and
inadequately coordinated to address the
growing problems of marine biodiversity
decline and ecosystem change.
Moving forward, the
preparation of National Programmes of Action
(NPAs) for protecting the marine environment
from land-based activities will be key in
the years to come for each country. Already
a number of countries have adopted NPAs
or equivalent instruments.
For instance, in 2007
Japan enacted an equivalent of the NPA:
the Basic Act on Ocean Policy, and established
a legal system that regulates land-based
activities in order to protect the marine
environment.
However, further actions
must include cross sectoral approaches such
as ecosystem-based management to address
activities and impacts affecting marine
ecosystems, given that the combination of
pressures from increasing human uses and
the expected effects of rising temperatures
and acidification of sea water promises
an unwelcoming outlook for marine biodiversity
and human activities that depend upon it.
Regionally, countries
are working together to find solutions and
adopting international provisions of Conventions
and Protocols. For example, the protocols
of the Regional Seas Conventions and Actions
provide useful policy platforms for countries
to collaborate towards meeting targeted
goals to manage their shared marine environment.
Similarly, in many parts
of the world, countries have adopted the
International Convention for the Control
and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and
Sediments: one important step towards cutting
introductions of marine invasive species.
Currently, the total
number of contracting parties to the Convention
is 27, signaling keen interest to turn the
Ballast Water Convention into national law.
The challenge is underlined
in the report with shipping figures. Growth
in total shipping traffic reflect regional
variations, however, the global annual average
growth of shipping traffic is between 9%
- 10% with faster growth of bulk cargoes
on some routes which pose the most threat
to introducing invasive species.
Extending Marine Protected
Areas (MPA) worldwide has so far reached
1.17% of global ocean surface, or 4.32%
of continental shelf areas. However, current
levels fall far short of the target of 10%
of the marine environment to be included
as Protected Areas set by the 7th Conference
of Parties of the Convention on Biological
Diversity in 2004.
Marine Protected Areas
(MPAs) are being established as primary
biodiversity management measures in all
regions. Well managed marine protected areas
can, for example, improve spawning rates
and fish stocks.
The series provide a
snapshot of the situation in 2010. Their
preparation has revealed major differences
in data availability, analytical protocols
and in preparedness and approaches for the
management of marine biodiversity, natural
resources and ecosystem services. They stand
as a baseline for future assessments as
part of the Regular Process for the Global
Reporting and Assessment of the State of
the Marine Environment (GRAME).
Notes to Editors
The Marine Biodiversity
Assessment and Outlook Series report for
UNEP is available on www.marinebiodiversityseries.org
The series provide many
lessons and insights and a basis for a consistent
set of indicators for Regional Seas Conventions
and Action Plans to monitor the impact of
global and regional measures on protecting
and managing marine biodiversity.
About UNEP's Regional
Seas Programme
The Regional Seas Programme,
launched in 1974 in the wake of the 1972
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
held in Stockholm, is one of UNEP's most
significant achievements in the past 30
years.
The Regional Seas Programme
aims to address the accelerating degradation
of the world's oceans and coastal areas
through the sustainable management and use
of the marine and coastal environment and
by engaging neighbouring countries in comprehensive
and specific actions to protect their shared
marine environment. It has accomplished
this by stimulating the creation of the
Regional Seas Programmes' prescriptions
for sound environmental management to be
coordinated and implemented by countries
sharing a common body of water.
Today, more than 140 countries are participating
in the13 Regional Seas Programmes. Six of
these Programmes are directly administered
by UNEP.
www.unep.org/regionalseas/
