ALBERT

Description: This summary for decision makers is based on the report ‘Ecological Baselines of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific – Status of Marine Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Pressures in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’ and provides consolidated information on key biological and ecological features of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) in the Southeast Atlantic as well as highlights key pressures placed upon it by human activities. ABNJ include the water column (the high seas) and the seabed (the Area) outside of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of coastal States and cover about half of the Earth’s surface. This summary is intended to inform relevant actors and stakeholders to support their understanding of the function and importance of marine biological diversity in ABNJ and the need to for appropriate conservation and management measures. The report was prepared as part of the Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (‘STRONG High Seas’) project – funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Description: This summary for decision makers is based on the report ‘Ecological Baselines of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific – Status of Marine Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Pressures in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’ and provides consolidated information on key biological and ecological features of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) in the Southeast Pacific as well as highlights key pressures placed upon it by human activities. ABNJ include the water column (the high seas) and the seabed (the Area) outside of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of coastal States and cover about half of the Earth’s surface. This summary is intended to inform relevant actors and stakeholders to support their understanding of the function and importance of marine biological diversity in ABNJ and the need to for appropriate conservation and management measures. The report was prepared as part of the Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (‘STRONG High Seas’) project – funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Description: Ce résumé à l’intention des décideurs se fonde sur le rapport Ecological Baselines of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific – Status of Marine Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Pressures in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Il fournit des informations consolidées sur les particularités biologiques et écologiques clés des zones situées au-delà de la juridiction nationale (ZAJN) dans l’Atlantique du Sud-Est et met également en évidence les pressions principales qu’imposent à ces dernières les activités anthropiques. Les ZAJN comprennent la colonne d’eau (la haute mer) et les fonds marins (la « Zone ») en dehors de la zone économique exclusive (ZEE) des États côtiers et couvrent près de la moitié de la surface de la Terre. Ce résumé a pour but d’éclairer les acteurs et les parties prenantes concernés afin de les aider à mieux comprendre la fonction et l’importance de la diversité biologique marine dans les ZAJN et la nécessité de mesures de conservation et de gestion appropriées. Ce rapport a été élaboré dans le cadre du projet Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (« STRONG High Seas ») – financé par le Ministère fédéral allemand de l'Environnement, de la Protection de la nature et de la Sûreté nucléaire (BMU) par le biais de l’Initiative internationale pour la protection du climat (International Climate Initiative – IKI).

Description: The primary aim of the report – Ecological Baselines of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific - Status of Marine Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Pressures in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – is to provide decision makers with relevant and useful information on the current status of the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), both in the Southeast Pacific and the Southeast Atlantic, as well as highlight key pressures placed upon it by human activities. Such information is intended to support decision makers with improved understanding of the functioning and importance of ecological features of ABNJ and their contribution to global human wellbeing.

Description: Este informe – Estudio sobre medidas para apoyar esfuerzos de conservación en áreas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional en la región del Pacífico Sudeste – pretende proporcionar recomendaciones para la conservación y uso sostenible de la biodiversidad marina en áreas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional (ABNJ, por sus siglas en inglés) en la región del Pacífico Sudeste. Estas recomendaciones incluyen consideraciones para establecer nuevas medidas de conservación y manejo y expandir o mejorar en la región otras medidas existentes; así como el uso de herramientas que apoyan el desarrollo de medidas de conservación. Este informe ha sido elaborado por investigadores del proyecto STRONG High Seas a partir de una revisión bibliográfica de artículos académicos, análisis de datos, conocimientos de las partes interesadas y experiencias recogidas en talleres de expertos celebrados en la región de interés del proyecto en 2021. La información presentada aquí pretende apoyar a tomadores de decisiones, incluyendo funcionarios de los gobiernos, el sector privado y otras partes interesadas que trabajen en el tema de la gobernanza oceánica en ABNJ y que participen o tengan interés en el actual desarrollo de la Conferencia Intergubernamental sobre un instrumento internacional jurídicamente vinculante en el marco de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar (CONVEMAR) relativo a la conservación y el uso sostenible de la diversidad biológica marina de las áreas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional (BBNJ, por sus siglas en inglés). Este informe hace parte de una serie de informes publicados por el proyecto STRONG High Seas [Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (June 2017 – May 2022)], que cubren aspectos de la gobernanza de los océanos con un foco geográfico en la región del Pacífico Sudeste (y el Atlántico Sudeste).

Description: Este reporte tiene como objetivo evaluar la con-tribución al bienestar humano de las activida-des socioeconómicas, actuales y potenciales, en las áreas marinas fuera de la jurisdicción nacio-nal (ABNJ por sus siglas en inglés) del Pacífico Sudeste, destacando la dependencia humana de los servicios ecosistémicos que la biodiver-sidad marina en las áreas fuera de la jurisdic-ción nacional (o BBNJ por sus siglas en inglés) provee, así como también de aquellas activi-dades que compiten en uso o bien generan efectos negativos sobre ella como consecuen-cia de su desarrollo. El estudio se focaliza en los aspectos socioeconómicos que dependen de, e interactúan con, la BBNJ en la región FAO 87, correspondiente al área f rente a las áreas juris-diccionales de Chile, Perú, Ecuador y Colombia (países miembros de la Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur o CPPS1), y de manera general para el bienestar de la humanidad. Como parte de esta introducción, se presenta a continuación una primera subsección que provee de contexto en relación a la importancia de los ecosistemas marinos y la relación de la BBNJ con el bienestar humano, seguida por una segunda donde se describe la organización de este reporte.

Description: Measures to support conservation efforts must put the protection of biodiversity and/or ecological integrity as the primary objective and consider cumulative pressures on the marine environment. This also means including ecological connectivity (e.g., migratory routes of marine species, transboundary impacts of human activities), and climate change impacts in their design and implementation. Moreover, the complexity and dynamic nature of the ocean, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), requires that conservation efforts acknowledge uncertainty, include options to address it or adapt swiftly to new scientific information, and consider the three-dimensional space of the ocean. This also requires that the best available interdisciplinary scientific and indigenous knowledge provide the basis for the design and implementation of such measures. It will be essential that measures to support conservation efforts apply mechanisms for cross-sectoral consultation, cooperation, and collaboration, as well as consider appropriate spatial and temporal scales for implementation. They must reflect broad societal goals and consider uneven distribution of socio-economic outcomes resulting from exploitative activities in ABNJ. Governance and management actions must recognise coupled and diverse social-ecological systems, and the interconnection between ocean health and human wellbeing, including diverse stakeholder considerations in the design and implementation of the measure or approach. It is essential that the design and implementation of measures to support conservation efforts include appropriate means to ensure the regular monitoring, control, and surveillance of human activities as well as the compliance and enforcement of the laws and regulations in place. States are familiar with legal instruments, such as those under the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conventions, International Seabed Authority (ISA), and management measures adopted by the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). They have developed governance structures and capacity to support their implementation. The recommendation in this context would be for States to support the consolidation and further development of measures to support conservation efforts with the aim to ensure that they integrate their approach with considerations for ecological connectivity, biodiversity protection, ecosystem-based integrated ocean management and climate change implications for the conservation and management of biodiversity in ABNJ. To be effective, any measures to support conservation efforts proposed for ABNJ in the Southeast Atlantic region must consider the socio-economic and political realities of the countries whose Exclusive Economic Zones border these areas. In this sense, it is important to note the important role that the fishing sector has historically played and continues to play for most economies of this region. The proposed Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Instrument in negotiation at the United Nations, will be fundamental for establishing the legal basis for developing and implementing cross-sectoral measures to support conservation efforts in ABNJ. The way in which the proposed BBNJ Instrument is integrated and how the link to existing conservation and sustainable use measures established under existing management organisations is made will determine the effectiveness of the possible measures to support current and future conservation efforts. In this regard, it is particularly important for the Southeast Atlantic region how existing RFMOs will be able to interact with the proposed BBNJ Instrument. Considering the capacity (technological, experience, financial, logistical) challenges of many of the countries in the Southeast Atlantic, it is important that measures to support conservation efforts under existing international treaties or legal mechanisms be integrated, practical, and cost-effective. The different legal status of the water column and the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction and the different legal provisions in place represent a challenge for the development of a coherent, comprehensive, and integrated approach to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in ABNJ. Lack of uniformity in compliance among flag States and the lack of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms in ABNJ jeopardise the achievement of an integrated approach for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in these vast areas of ocean. The wide array of existing instruments can be used to improve conservation of biodiversity in ABNJ through improved monitoring and enforced compliance. This remains the responsibility of individual flag States, but at present there is limited reporting of vessels and minimum follow up action by flag or port States.

Description: Este resumen para los tomadores de decisiones está basado en el informe “Ecological Baselines of the Southeast Atlantic and Southeast Pacific – Status of Marine Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Pressures in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” y proporciona información consolidada sobre las principales características biológicas y ecológicas de las zonas fuera de la jurisdicción nacional (ABNJ, por sus siglas en inglés) en el Pacífico Sudeste, así como, destaca las principales presiones que ejercen sobre ellas las actividades humanas. Las ABNJ incluyen la columna de agua (alta mar) y el lecho marino (la Zona) fuera de la Zona Económica Exclusiva (ZEE) de los estados ribereños y cubren aproximadamente la mitad de la superficie de la Tierra. El presente resumen tiene por objeto informar a los agentes e interesados pertinentes para reforzar su conocimiento de la función e importancia de la diversidad biológica marina en las ABNJ y la necesidad de adoptar medidas apropiadas de conservación y gestión. El informe se preparó como parte del proyecto Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas (‘STRONG High Seas’) – financiado por el Ministerio Federal Alemán de Medio Ambiente, Protección de la Naturaleza y Seguridad Nuclear (BMU) a través de la Iniciativa Internacional sobre el Clima (IKI).