CBD Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/16/INF/6 11 April 2012 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH SUBSIDIARY BODY ON SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE Sixteenth meeting Montreal, 30 April-5 May 2012 Item 6.1 of the provisional agenda* REPORT OF THE WESTERN SOUTH PACIFIC REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS INTRODUCTION 1. At its tenth meeting, 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 through the application of scientific criteria in annex I to decision IX/20 as well as 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 (paragraph 36, decision X/29). 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. * UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/16/1. /... 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/SBSTTA/16/INF/6 Page 2 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 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, 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 Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Western South Pacific Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, in Nadi, Fiji, from 22 to 25 November 2011. The Government of Australia provided support, through the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and SPREP in their scientific and technical preparation for the workshop. 6. The meeting was attended by experts from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, France/New Caledonia, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, American Samoa, International Seabed Authority (ISA), Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS)/IOC–UNESCO, IUCN Regional Office for Oceania, SPREP, University of the South Pacific (USP), Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Permanent Commission for the South Pacific, Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), BirdLife International, Conservation International Pacific Islands Program, and Wildlife Conservation Society. The full list of participants is attached as annex I. ITEM 1. OPENING OF THE MEETING 7. On behalf of Mr. Neroni Slade, Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, and Ocean Commissioner for the Pacific Islands Ocean Region, Mr. Tim Carruthers delivered his opening statement at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011. He highlighted the great size, the high number of nations and the thousands of islands in the region, as well as its ecological and biological significance. He noted that these circumstances presented challenges that were recognized in the Pacific Plan and were further detailed in the Pacific Oceanscape Framework, an initiative endorsed by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in 2010 that aimed at fostering an integrated approach to ocean management and the threats the ocean faced today. Mr. Slade thanked participants for their efforts and emphasized the importance of their work for this region. He expressed his interest in seeing the results of their work and his confidence that it would start a new chapter for the Pacific region. Citing the words of President Anote Tong of Kiribati and of Prime Minister Henry Puna of the Cook Islands, he invited all partners to work together to increase understanding of the ocean, to proactively manage and care for its resources and diverse ecosystems, and to fulfill their role as ocean stewards. He concluded by urging participants, when focusing on the /... UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/16/INF/6 Page 3 important details of the EBSAs they were to propose, to bear in mind the Pacific Ocean as a whole and the need to manage this ocean and its special places, and to conserve the services upon which Pacific island people and indeed the world rely. 8. On behalf of the Executive Secretary of the Convention, Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Ms. Jihyun Lee (Environmental Affairs Officer at the CBD Secretariat) delivered the opening statement. In his statement, Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, welcomed participants and expressed his thanks to them for participating in this important workshop, the first regional workshop on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas to be convened by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. He thanked SPREP for hosting this workshop in collaboration with the Secretariat. He thanked the Japan Biodiversity Fund for providing financial support for this workshop and for the participation of experts from developing countries. He also thanked the Government of Australia and CSIRO for providing excellent scientific and technical support. Mr. Djoghlaf highlighted that the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting adopted a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which included a target to conserve 10% of coastal and marine areas in protected areas, noting the concerns raised by the Conference of the Parties at its tenth meeting on the slow progress toward this target. He also mentioned COP-10 guidance 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 the next meeting of the scientific body of the Convention (SBSTTA 16) and the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11), the Convention‘s decision-making body (in April and October 2012, respectively). The EBSA reports endorsed by the Conference of the Parties would be transmitted to the relevant United Nations General Assembly Process on marine biodiversity conservation in areas beyond national jurisdiction. He concluded by emphasizing that marine and coastal biodiversity was the theme of the 2012 International Day for Biodiversity, which would bring opportunities to highlight the complex challenges it faces. He expressed his wish for active participation by all in this workshop to ensure it benefits the region. 9. On behalf of SPREP, Mr. Stuart Chape (Director, Biodiversity and Ecosystem