CBD Distr. GENERAL UNEP/CBD/EBSA/WS/2014/2/4 26 May 2014 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH NORTH-WEST ATLANTIC REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS Montreal, 24 to 28 March 2014 REPO RT OF THE NO RTH-WEST ATLANTIC REGIO NAL WO RKSHO P TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTIO N OF ECO LO GICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY 1 SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS INTRO DUCTIO N 1. At its tenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 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) 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 of 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 of decision X/29). 2. In the same decision, 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. Subsequently, the Conference of the Parties, at its eleventh meeting, requested the Executive Secretary to further collaborate with Parties, other Governments, competent organizations, and global and regional initiatives, such as the United Nations General Assembly Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socio-Economic Aspects, the International Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, regional seas conventions and action plans, and, where appropriate, regional fisheries management organizations, with regard to fisheries management, and also including the participation of indigenous and local communities, to facilitate the description of areas that meet the 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/EBSA/WS/2014/2/4 Page 2 criteria for EBSAs through the organization of additional regional or subregional workshops for the remaining regions or subregions where Parties wish workshops to be held, and for the further description of the areas already described where new information becomes available (paragraph 12 of decision XI/17). 4. Pursuant to the above requests and with financial support from the Government of Canada, the Secretariat convened the North-West Atlantic Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs). The workshop was hosted by the Government of Canada and was held from 24 to 28 March 2014 in Montreal, Canada. 5. With the financial support of the Government of Canada, the CBD Secretariat commissioned a technical team to support their scientific and technical preparation for the workshop. The results of this technical preparation were made available in the meeting document providing data to inform the CBD North-West Atlantic Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (UNEP/CBD/EBSA/WS/2014/2/2). 6. The meeting was attended by experts from Canada, United States of America, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) Secretariat, WWF, and Memorial University of Newfoundland (BirdLife International). An expert from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Mediterranean Action Plan for the Barcelona Convention Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) attended the workshop as an observer so that the experience at this workshop could be shared at the forthcoming workshop in the Mediterranean region. The full list of participants is attached as annex I. ITEM 1. O PENING OF THE MEETING 7. On behalf of the Government of Canada, as the host of the workshop, Mr. Patrice Simon, Acting Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, presented opening remarks. He welcomed participants to Montreal and thanked them for taking the time to participate in this important workshop and sharing their expertise. He also thanked the CBD Secretariat for convening the series of EBSA workshops all over the world and indicated that Canada was honoured to support these efforts by hosting this workshop. He noted that these workshops provided a significant contribution to the application of the ecosystem approach and the precautionary approach to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. Mr. Simon pointed out that Canada had been a strong supporter of the EBSA process since its inception. Canada had made significant efforts to describe areas that meet the EBSA criteria in the majority of its domestic waters and had been an active participant in related work internationally, including the development of the CBD EBSA criteria. He explained that within Canada’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Oceans Act, which was based on the principles of sustainable development, integrated management and the precautionary approach, provided the legislative basis for oceans management. He noted that Canada had found the EBSA process to be an important tool that had provided a systematic approach and had brought consistency and scientific credibility to the identification of areas for risk-averse management. Furthermore, from a scientific perspective, the EBSA process helped understand gaps in scientific knowledge and therefore provided focus for future research. He noted that as a member State to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Canada had also participated in the identification of vulnerable marine ecosystems, applying the deep-sea fisheries guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He wished participants a productive workshop and a pleasant stay in Montreal. 8. On behalf of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Mr. Sarat Babu Gidda, Senior Programme Officer, welcomed participants and thanked them for participating in this workshop, the eighth regional EBSA workshop convened by the CBD Secretariat. He thanked the Government of Canada for hosting this workshop and for their kind financial support. He noted that the CBD process to facilitate the description of EBSAs benefited greatly from linkages to the work of other relevant organizations as well as experiences from national-level processes. In this regard, he highlighted the leadership of the Government of Canada in supporting the description of EBSAs through their /... UNEP/CBD/EBSA/WS/2014/2/4 Page 3 national-level EBSA process, which had provided valuable insights to the CBD EBSA process. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its work on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), which complemented the ongoing work on EBSAs in building an improved understanding of marine ecosystems and facilitating the application of appropriate policy responses. Recognizing increasing global attention on the urgent need to effectively protect and preserve marine biodiversity, including in the ongoing United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, he outlined the critical role of the regional EBSA workshops in describing ocean areas in need of special attention. He expressed his wish for successful deliberations of the workshop. ITEM 2. ELECTIO N O F THE CO-CHAIRS, ADOPTIO N OF THE AGENDA AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK 9. After a brief explanation by the CBD Secretariat on procedures for electing the workshop chair, Mr. Jake Rice (Canada) was elected as the workshop chair, as offered by the hosting Government. 10. Participants were then invited to consider the provisional agenda (UNEP/CBD/EBSA/WS/2014/2/1) and the proposed organization of work, as contained in annex II to the annotations to the provisional agenda (UNEP/CBD/EBSA/WS/2014/2/1/Add.1), and adopted them without any amendments. 11. The workshop was organized in plenary sessions and break-out group sessions. The chair nominated the following rapporteurs for the plenary sessions, taking into consideration the expertise and experience of the workshop participants and in consultation with the CBD Secretariat: • Agenda