About 120 marine hotspots identified by experts are awaiting to be approved by the Convention on Biological Diversity as they need immediate attention.
This approval is aimed at pushing the international community to recognise and protect these sensitive areas. The new knowledge gathered about them is aimed at better managing marine activities to preserve areas beyond national boundaries.
New facts about marine life have enabled scientists to locate some of the ocean’s most ecologically and biologically significant areas or EBSAs as they are referred to.
These areas are located in some of the remotest places. At the Conference on Parties (COP) 11 to the Convention on Biological Diversity here, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called the international community to protect them.
This is the first time the world ocean, including its international waters, have come under scientific scrutiny by combining new facts about distribution, migration and reproductive, nesting and nursing grounds of many threatened species.
According to Kristine Gjerde, IUCN Senior High Seas Advisor, “Many of these important areas lie outside the national jurisdiction and thus remain neglected or poorly protected. We need to bring these remote places to the centre of Government attention.’’
Some 30 species of whales, dolphins, live and migrate as do species of tuna, rays and eels.
Patricio Barnal, IUCN Coordinator for Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, said: “We are calling the Convention to approve the proposed EBSAs and urge the international community to protect them.’’
Unregulated fishing
Kristine Gjerde said unregulated fishing is responsible for mass mortality of sharks, which can cause dramatic shifts in the whole of the marine environment. Emerging activities such as deep seabed mining threaten to industrialise the seafloor beyond imagination.’’
New tracking technologies have allowed researchers to examine the migration routes of many species, including sea turtles, threatened by poaching and unintentional fishing. Better protection of these areas could ensure their survival.