The Marine Environment
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OUR PLANETThe magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme - December 2007 SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS The Marine Environment OUR PLANET MAGAZINE THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT Vice-Admiral Conrad C. ...decribes how UNEP’s Global Programme Lautenbacher, Jr., Under of Action for the Protection of the Marine Secretary of Commerce for Environment from Land-Based Activities assists OUR Oceans and Atmosphere, USA... sustainable management of oceans and coasts. flexible instrument - page 4 PLANET Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General ...describes what is being done to of the International Maritime Organization... protect the marine environment from shipping. Our Planet, the magazine of the ship shape - page 8 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) PO Box 30552 Prof Dr Ulf Riebesell of the ...describes how acidification of the oceans has Nairobi, Kenya Leibniz Institute of Marine become a new reason for rapid and decisive Tel: (254 20)762 234 Sciences in Kiel, Germany... action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Fax: (254 20)7623 927 e-mail: [email protected] acid oceans - page 10 To view current and past issues of this publication online, please visit ...describes international efforts to www.unep.org/ourplanet Lee A. Kimball, a member of the Group of Experts of the Assessment of Assessments of build knowledge, through ocean ISSN 0 - 7394 the state of the marine environment... assessment, as the basis of sound decision making. Director of Publication: Eric Falt Editor: Geoffrey Lean building knowledge - page 12 Coordinators: Naomi Poulton, David Simpson Assistant Coordinator: Anne-France White His All Holiness Ecumenical ...describes how disorder in the world’s Special Contributor: Nick Nuttall Patriarch Bartholomew, the oceans and other waters is profoundly Distribution Manager: Manyahleshal Kebede Design: Amina Darani Archbishop of Constantinople... troubling for life on Earth. Producedy by: UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information Printed by: Naturaprint in the same boat - page 16 Distributed by: SMI Books Ibrahim Thiaw, Director of UNEP’s Division of ...describes how UNEP’s The contents of this magazine do not Environmental Policy Implementation... Oceans and Coasts Programme necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP or the editors, nor are they an official is being redesigned in the face record. The designations employed and the of new challenges. presentation do not imply the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP rethink, realign, redirect - page 18 concerning the legal status of any country, territory or city or its authority or concerning the Gerald Marten, an ecologist at the ....describe how restoring delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. East-West Center in Honolulu and mangroves can turn a vicious author of Human Ecology: environment and development Basic Concepts for Sustainable cycle into a virtuous one. Development and Amanda Suutari, * All dollar ($) amounts refer to US dollars. an environmental journalist,... tipping points - page 20 Sandra Bessudo, Director of the Malpelo/ ...describes a pioneering bid to conserve MarViva Foundation Colombia... a unique patch of the world’s seas. also living laboratory - page 22 Philippe Gautier, Registrar, ...describes the importance and role of the Law page 3 reflections International Tribunal for the of the Sea in protecting and preserving the page 7 verbatim and numbers Law of the Sea; Professor, marine environment. Université Catholique de page 5 books Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve) ... matters of judgement - page 26 page 24 people page 25 awards and events Cameron Diaz, the actress who ... describes her green upbringing and has appeared in 35 successful explains how she encourages others to be page 29 www Hollywood films and was nominated environmentally-friendly. page 30 products four times for the Golden Globes... everyone's cause - page 31 2 OUR PLANET MAGAZINE THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT reflections by Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UNEP Ducie atoll will not be familiar to most readers of Our Planet, but perhaps it should be. In many ways this tiny uninhabited speck at the far end of a Pacific island chain symbolizes the challenges of trying to sustainably manage the world’s seas and oceans. A few years ago scientists recording new species on nearby Pitcairn Island went to Ducie out of curiosity. In a morning’s stroll they catalogued almost 1,000 items of litter and rubbish — from old bread crates to plastic bags, a punctured football, discarded meat tins, and two toy cars. This unattractive haul, collected almost 6,000 kilometres from the nearest continent is bad enough. But perhaps even more cause for alarm is the often invisible pollution and sustained over-exploitation of marine resources. Some months ago, UNEP launched its flagship report — Global Environment Outlook-4. Its point of departure is the 1987 Brundtland Commission. GEO-4 The economic benefits can be significant. In Fiji, no-take zones and better asks how we have fared in the past two decades. The answer, including on management of marine areas has increased species such as mangrove lobsters marine issues, is ‘not very well’. In 1987 collapsed fisheries numbered 15 per by 250 per cent a year, with annual increases of 120 per cent in nearby waters. cent globally. GEO-4 says this has now roughly doubled to 30 per cent. Twenty Meanwhile, the integration of coastal and inland river basin management is years ago a fifth of fish stocks were over-exploited; this has now risen to about also evolving. The Global Environment Facility is supporting this approach, 40 per cent. In 2004, there were around 149 dead zone sites — often vast as well as integrated management of shared living marine resources in the areas of seasonal, occasional or even permanent de-oxygenated water. New Caribbean. There are many success stories. And there is cause for optimism in assessments put the total at 200. other fora, such as in the World Trade Organization with respect to fisheries subsidizes. But, as GEO-4 concludes, while we have rolled the multilateral The case of dead zones and of Ducie atoll underline a further reality: managing response out across many sustainability challenges, including marine, we a transition back to healthy and productive seas and oceans will require have not matched the magnitude or the pace of the challenge. the international community to address the link between activities on land and their impacts on the marine world. Sewage, solid wastes and fertilizers, Part of the response must come from partnerships between the UN, sediments, chemicals and even nuclear materials almost inevitably migrate to governments, business, civil society and citizens. I am pleased that the work of coastal waters. Scientists are also increasingly concerned about the impacts of the GPA, for example, has been endorsed by industry bodies, including those greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, which may trigger acidification covering dredging and ports and harbours. The response must also include of the seas, affecting corals and shellfish and, indeed, knock the entire monitoring, compliance and enforcement of existing agreements, backed by food chain. the resources needed to realize their potential. Among the central international responses to marine management are the The key missing link is economics. The world must learn to truly value marine UNEP Regional Seas and the UNEP Global Programme of Action (GPA). More ecosystems and safeguard their enormous income generating potential. than 60 countries — including Bangladesh, Barbados, Costa Rica, India and the Sometimes these economic benefits are overlooked. Take the parrot fish as Philippines — have developed action programmes, many of which have led an example. In Kenya, the Watamu Marine Reserve is a magnet for tourists to revised or new laws on coastal policy, water policy and integrated coastal keen to experience its classic blue sea and bright white sand. According to management. Rehabilitation of coastal ecosystems, for example mangroves, local naturalist Richard Bennett, parrot fish chomping on coral heads each is happening in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, generate one kilogram of fine white sand a day. Remove parrot fish from and the designation of marine protected areas, a potentially important the equation by polluting or over fishing and you not only say goodbye to management option, is accelerating from a pitifully low level. Mexico, for attractive marine organisms, but goodbye sand, tourists and economically example, has established significant areas in the past five years. important foreign exchange. UNEP promotes environmentally sound practices Cover photo © SHINICHI EGUCHI/ amana images/ Gallo Images/ Getty Images. Complex, beautiful, awe-inspiring, yet fragile, the marine environment is the theme of this edition of Our Planet. Seen from space, Earth is the blue planet. Oceans cover globally and in its own activities. around 7 per cent of the Earth’s surface, and are home to a vast proportion of the world’s wildlife and plants. But the world’s This magazine is printed on 00% recycled oceans and seas – from the Antarctic to the Caribbean – are under increasing pressure from pollution, global warming and paper, using vegetable -based inks and other species depletion. Preserving their fragile ecosystems is a key component of reversing the planet’s environmental decline. eco-friendly practices. Our distribution policy aims to reduce UNEP’s carbon