UNEP/CBD/RW/EBSA/SIO/1/4 26 June 2013
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CBD Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/RW/EBSA/SIO/1/4 26 June 2013 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS Flic en Flac, Mauritius, 31 July to 3 August 2012 REPORT OF THE SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS1 INTRODUCTION 1. In paragraph 36 of decision X/29, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10) requested the Executive Secretary to work with Parties and other Governments as well as competent organizations and regional initiatives, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), regional seas conventions and action plans, and, where appropriate, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), with regard to fisheries management, to organize, including the setting of terms of reference, a series of regional workshops, with a primary objective to facilitate the description of ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) through the application of scientific criteria in annex I of decision IX/20, and other relevant compatible and complementary nationally and intergovernmentally agreed scientific criteria, as well as the scientific guidance on the identification of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, which meet the scientific criteria in annex I to decision IX/20. 2. In the same decision (paragraph 41), the Conference of the Parties requested that the Executive Secretary make available the scientific and technical data and information and results collated through the workshops referred to above to participating Parties, other Governments, intergovernmental agencies and the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) for their use according to their competencies. 3. The Conference of the Parties, at its tenth meeting, also requested the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with Parties and other Governments, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO–IOC), in particular the Ocean Biogeographic Information System, and other competent organizations, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment 1 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this note do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. /... In order to minimize the environmental impacts of the Secretariat’s processes, and to contribute to the Secretary-General’s initiative for a C-Neutral UN, this document is printed in limited numbers. Delegates are kindly requested to bring their copies to meetings and not to request additional copies. UNEP/CBD/RW/EBSA/SIO/1/4 Page 2 Programme (UNEP-WCMC) and the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), to establish a repository for scientific and technical information and experience related to the application of the scientific criteria on the identification of EBSAs in annex I of decision IX/20, as well as other relevant compatible and complementary nationally and intergovernmentally agreed scientific criteria that shares information and harmonizes with similar initiatives, and to develop an information-sharing mechanism with similar initiatives, such as FAO’s work on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) (paragraph 39 of decision X/29). 4. The Conference of the Parties, at its tenth meeting, requested the Subsidiary Body to prepare reports based on scientific and technical evaluation of information from the workshops, setting out details of areas that meet the criteria in annex I to decision IX/20 for consideration and endorsement in a transparent manner by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, with a view to including the endorsed reports in the repository referred to in paragraph 39 of decision X/29 and to submit them to the United Nations General Assembly and particularly its Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group, as well as relevant international organizations, Parties and other Governments (paragraph 42, decision X/29). 5. Pursuant to the above request and with financial support from the Government of Japan, through the Japan Biodiversity Fund, the Executive Secretary convened, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Nairobi Convention and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and hosted by the Government of Mauritius, the Southern Indian Ocean Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, in Flic en Flac, Mauritius, from 31 July to 3 August 2012. It was held immediately following a training workshop on EBSAs, convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in collaboration with the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (30 July in Flic en Flac, Mauritius). 6. This workshop was also held immediately following FAO’s Regional Workshop on Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Indian Ocean (25 to 27 July 2012 in Flic en Flac, Mauritius), in order to facilitate collaboration between the Convention on Biological Diversity’s work on EBSAs and FAO’s work on VMEs, as requested by the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. 7. The Government of Australia provided support, through the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in their scientific and technical preparation for the workshop. The results of this technical preparation were made available in the note by the Executive Secretary on data to inform the CBD Southern Indian Ocean Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (UNEP/CBD/RW/EBSA/SIO/1/2). 8. The meeting was attended by experts from Australia, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United Republic of Tanzania as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Seabed Authority, Nairobi Convention Secretariat, UNDP-GEF, the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) Project, UNESCO-IOC Sub Commission for Africa and the Adjacent Island States; IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU Secretariat/Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals; IUCN Global Marine Programme, IUCN/Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, Indian Ocean Commission, South East Atlantic Fisheries Organization, Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOC-ARC), BirdLife International, Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Global Ocean Observing System for Indian Ocean (IGOOS), International Collective in Support of Fish Workers, Southern Indian Ocean Deepsea Fishers Association, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, Mauritius Oceanography Institute, United Republic of Tanzania Deep Sea Fishing Authority, WWF Madagascar & West Indian Ocean Programme Office. The full list of participants is attached as annex I. /... UNEP/CBD/RW/EBSA/SIO/1/4 Page 3 ITEM 1. OPENING OF THE MEETING 9. On behalf of the Mr. Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ms. Jihyun Lee (Environmental Affairs Officer for marine and coastal biodiversity at the CBD Secretariat) delivered the opening statement. In his statement, Mr. Dias welcomed participants and thanked them for participating in this important workshop, the third regional EBSA workshop convened by the Secretariat. He thanked the Government of Mauritius for hosting this workshop. He acknowledged with appreciation the Japan Biodiversity Fund for providing financial support for the participation of experts from developing countries. He also thanked the Nairobi Convention Secretariat and FAO for closely collaborating with the Secretariat in convening the workshop. Mr. Dias highlighted the importance of creating synergies between the work of the Convention on EBSAs and the work of FAO on VMEs, as demonstrated by the convening of this workshop immediately following FAO's Regional Workshop on the VME database. He reminded workshop participants of the key outcome of the Rio+20 Conference, which emphasized the Aichi Biodiversity Target to conserve 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas in protected areas. He also mentioned the guidance from the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties that the application of the EBSA criteria was a scientific and technical exercise, and that areas identified as such may require enhanced conservation and management measures selected by States and competent intergovernmental organizations. He informed participants that the results of this workshop would be submitted to forthcoming meetings of the Convention’s Subsidiary Body on Science, Technology and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and of the Conference of the Parties (COP). He added that the EBSA reports considered by the Conference of the Parties would be transmitted to the relevant United Nations General Assembly process on marine biodiversity conservation in areas