About World Environment Day 2004
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
The World Environment Day theme selected for 2004 is Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? The theme asks that we make a choice as to how we want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans. It also calls on each and every one of us to act. Do we want to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?
The main international celebrations of the World Environment Day 2004 will be held in Barcelona, Spain in close collaboration with the Universal Forum of Cultures. UNEP is honoured that the City of Barcelona, the Catalan Regional Government and the Government of Spain will be hosting this important United Nations day. http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/
Our agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
World Environment Day is a people's event with colourful activities such as street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essays and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and clean-up campaigns
World Environment Day http://www.unep.org/wed/2004/
World Environment Day 2004:
Conservation of Seas and Oceans, an Imperative for Humanity
Gland, Switzerland, 4 June 2004 (IUCN)
Urgent measures are needed to protect the vast hidden treasures of the deep seas from over-exploitation. On the occasion of this year’s World Environment Day with its focus on seas and oceans, IUCN – The World Conservation Union is calling on nations to seize the opportunity to change the way we manage our marine environment.The high seas account for 50% of the Earth's surface. The open ocean and deep sea environments beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (the Exclusive Economic Zone) are beyond national jurisdiction and therefore out of any one state's capacity to control or protect.
The deep ocean is increasingly recognized as a major global reservoir of the Earth’s biodiversity, comparable to that of tropical rainforests and coral reefs. Though only a fraction of ecosystems found at depths below 200 meters has been studied, research has revealed remarkable diversity and unique species, whose numbers may be as large as 100 million.
“While there is much to be done in coastal and offshore waters, damage caused by growing human activities to high seas biodiversity and productivity continues to escalate, harming or destroying species and habitats, and altering ecosystems faster than scientists can study them. Urgent and immediate action is required to reduce the known risks from high seas bottom trawling and provide protection to important biodiversity areas,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN Global Marine Programme.
Stop Destructive Practices
The development of new fishing technologies and markets for deep-sea fish products has enabled fishing vessels to begin exploiting deep-sea ecosystems. By far the most widespread activity affecting the biodiversity of the deep sea is bottom trawl fishing, which consists of dragging heavy chains, nets and steel plates across the ocean floor. A number of surveys have shown that bottom trawl fishing is the single greatest threat to highly vulnerable deep sea environments such as seamounts and deep-sea corals that serve as critical habitats for many commercial fish species.
Over 1,000 marine scientists from around the world have joined together to express their profound concern that bottom trawling is an especially serious threat causing unprecedented damage to deep sea coral and sponge communities on the continental margin and on seamounts and mid-ocean ridges. They have urged the United Nations and appropriate international bodies to establish a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.
Ensure Immediate Protection for High Seas
The high seas are the least protected part of the world. Although there are some treaties that protect ocean-going species such as whales, as well as some fisheries agreements, there are no protected areas in the high seas.
IUCN is also urging the UN General Assembly to call for immediate protection of seamounts, deep water corals and other biodiversity hotspots from high seas bottom trawling until these vulnerable areas can be identified and measures to protect them adopted and enforced, including effective international management measures for bottom trawl fisheries in these areas.
Establish More Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely recognized by coastal nations as effective and efficient tools for managing their resources more sustainably.
Less than one per cent of our seas and oceans are protected compared to the 11.5% of the Earth’s land surface. Increasing the number of MPAs in coastal zones and establishing new protected areas in the high seas are opportunities that nations have to seize to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of dwindling marine resources.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, Governments have made the commitment to “maintain the productivity and biodiversity of important and vulnerable marine and coastal areas, including in areas within and beyond national jurisdiction” and to establish representative networks of Marine Protected Areas by 2012. These commitments need to be upheld.
Improve Ocean Governance
At present, management of oceans and ocean resources is scattered among a complex network of regional and international actors and mandates. Only a tiny number of these actors have mandate on fisheries management beyond national jurisdiction. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a common practice in the high seas.
The UN Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (Fish Stocks Agreement) represents a good tool for managing resources beyond national jurisdiction that should be extended to cover high seas fisheries for stocks that are neither straddling nor highly migratory.
Improvements in international ocean governance are necessary to deal with fisheries depletion and deteriorating marine conditions.ENDS
Notes
High Seas are parts of the world’s oceans that lie beyond the territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zones and are above the “outer continental shelf” of coastal nations. They represent 64% of the oceans’ surface and are the largest habitat on the planet that doesn’t benefit from any form of protection.
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day theme selected for 2004 is Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? The theme asks that we make a choice as to how we want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans. It also calls on each and every one of us to act. Do we want to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?
For more information contact:
IUCN Global Marine Programme http://iucn.org/themes/marine
IUCN Regional Office for South America http://www.sur.iucn.org/
World Conservation Union (IUCN) http://iucn.org
$5000 for the Best Environment Story – Enter 2004 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards or Nominate a Journalist You Know!
More information: http://www.iucn.org/reuters/2004/
SOME FIGURES:
· More than 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean for their primary source of food. In 20 years, this number could double to 7 billion.
· Artisanal fishing communities, who harvest half the world’s fish catch, are seeing their livelihoods increasingly threatened by illegal, unregulated or subsidized commercial fleets.
· More than 70% of the world’s marine fisheries are now fished up to or beyond their sustainable limit.
· Populations of commercially attractive large fish, such as tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin, have declined by as much as 90% in the past century. · The Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development calls for a global marine assessment by 2004 and the development of a global network of marine protected areas by 2012.
· Less than one per cent of marine habitats are protected — compared with 11.5% of global land area.
· The high seas — areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction — cover almost 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are the least protected part of the world.
· Although there are some treaties that protect ocean-going species such as whales, as well as some fisheries agreements, there are no protected areas in the High Seas.
· Studies show that protecting critical marine habitats — such as warm- and cold-water coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves — can dramatically increase fish size and quantity, benefiting both artisanal and commercial fisheries. · Fishing vessels flagged to only 12 countries took approximately 95% of the reported high seas bottom trawl catch in 2001.
· The overall value of high seas bottom trawl fisheries is not likely to exceed $300-$400 million USD annually at present, a figure equivalent to approximately 0.5 percent of the estimated value of the global marine fish catch in 2001 ($75 billion USD).
Created in 1948, IUCN - The World Conservation Union brings together 76 States, 114 government agencies, 800 plus NGOs, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. IUCN is the world's largest environmental knowledge network and has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1000 staff located in 62 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. http://www.iucn.orgpress@iucn.org
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
The World Environment Day theme selected for 2004 is Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? The theme asks that we make a choice as to how we want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans. It also calls on each and every one of us to act. Do we want to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?
The main international celebrations of the World Environment Day 2004 will be held in Barcelona, Spain in close collaboration with the Universal Forum of Cultures. UNEP is honoured that the City of Barcelona, the Catalan Regional Government and the Government of Spain will be hosting this important United Nations day. http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/
Our agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
World Environment Day is a people's event with colourful activities such as street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essays and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and clean-up campaigns
World Environment Day http://www.unep.org/wed/2004/
World Environment Day 2004:
Conservation of Seas and Oceans, an Imperative for Humanity
Gland, Switzerland, 4 June 2004 (IUCN)
Urgent measures are needed to protect the vast hidden treasures of the deep seas from over-exploitation. On the occasion of this year’s World Environment Day with its focus on seas and oceans, IUCN – The World Conservation Union is calling on nations to seize the opportunity to change the way we manage our marine environment.The high seas account for 50% of the Earth's surface. The open ocean and deep sea environments beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (the Exclusive Economic Zone) are beyond national jurisdiction and therefore out of any one state's capacity to control or protect.
The deep ocean is increasingly recognized as a major global reservoir of the Earth’s biodiversity, comparable to that of tropical rainforests and coral reefs. Though only a fraction of ecosystems found at depths below 200 meters has been studied, research has revealed remarkable diversity and unique species, whose numbers may be as large as 100 million.
“While there is much to be done in coastal and offshore waters, damage caused by growing human activities to high seas biodiversity and productivity continues to escalate, harming or destroying species and habitats, and altering ecosystems faster than scientists can study them. Urgent and immediate action is required to reduce the known risks from high seas bottom trawling and provide protection to important biodiversity areas,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN Global Marine Programme.
Stop Destructive Practices
The development of new fishing technologies and markets for deep-sea fish products has enabled fishing vessels to begin exploiting deep-sea ecosystems. By far the most widespread activity affecting the biodiversity of the deep sea is bottom trawl fishing, which consists of dragging heavy chains, nets and steel plates across the ocean floor. A number of surveys have shown that bottom trawl fishing is the single greatest threat to highly vulnerable deep sea environments such as seamounts and deep-sea corals that serve as critical habitats for many commercial fish species.
Over 1,000 marine scientists from around the world have joined together to express their profound concern that bottom trawling is an especially serious threat causing unprecedented damage to deep sea coral and sponge communities on the continental margin and on seamounts and mid-ocean ridges. They have urged the United Nations and appropriate international bodies to establish a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.
Ensure Immediate Protection for High Seas
The high seas are the least protected part of the world. Although there are some treaties that protect ocean-going species such as whales, as well as some fisheries agreements, there are no protected areas in the high seas.
IUCN is also urging the UN General Assembly to call for immediate protection of seamounts, deep water corals and other biodiversity hotspots from high seas bottom trawling until these vulnerable areas can be identified and measures to protect them adopted and enforced, including effective international management measures for bottom trawl fisheries in these areas.
Establish More Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely recognized by coastal nations as effective and efficient tools for managing their resources more sustainably.
Less than one per cent of our seas and oceans are protected compared to the 11.5% of the Earth’s land surface. Increasing the number of MPAs in coastal zones and establishing new protected areas in the high seas are opportunities that nations have to seize to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of dwindling marine resources.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, Governments have made the commitment to “maintain the productivity and biodiversity of important and vulnerable marine and coastal areas, including in areas within and beyond national jurisdiction” and to establish representative networks of Marine Protected Areas by 2012. These commitments need to be upheld.
Improve Ocean Governance
At present, management of oceans and ocean resources is scattered among a complex network of regional and international actors and mandates. Only a tiny number of these actors have mandate on fisheries management beyond national jurisdiction. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a common practice in the high seas.
The UN Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (Fish Stocks Agreement) represents a good tool for managing resources beyond national jurisdiction that should be extended to cover high seas fisheries for stocks that are neither straddling nor highly migratory.
Improvements in international ocean governance are necessary to deal with fisheries depletion and deteriorating marine conditions.ENDS
Notes
High Seas are parts of the world’s oceans that lie beyond the territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zones and are above the “outer continental shelf” of coastal nations. They represent 64% of the oceans’ surface and are the largest habitat on the planet that doesn’t benefit from any form of protection.
World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day theme selected for 2004 is Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? The theme asks that we make a choice as to how we want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans. It also calls on each and every one of us to act. Do we want to keep seas and oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?
For more information contact:
IUCN Global Marine Programme http://iucn.org/themes/marine
IUCN Regional Office for South America http://www.sur.iucn.org/
World Conservation Union (IUCN) http://iucn.org
$5000 for the Best Environment Story – Enter 2004 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards or Nominate a Journalist You Know!
More information: http://www.iucn.org/reuters/2004/
SOME FIGURES:
· More than 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean for their primary source of food. In 20 years, this number could double to 7 billion.
· Artisanal fishing communities, who harvest half the world’s fish catch, are seeing their livelihoods increasingly threatened by illegal, unregulated or subsidized commercial fleets.
· More than 70% of the world’s marine fisheries are now fished up to or beyond their sustainable limit.
· Populations of commercially attractive large fish, such as tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin, have declined by as much as 90% in the past century. · The Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development calls for a global marine assessment by 2004 and the development of a global network of marine protected areas by 2012.
· Less than one per cent of marine habitats are protected — compared with 11.5% of global land area.
· The high seas — areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction — cover almost 50% of the Earth’s surface. They are the least protected part of the world.
· Although there are some treaties that protect ocean-going species such as whales, as well as some fisheries agreements, there are no protected areas in the High Seas.
· Studies show that protecting critical marine habitats — such as warm- and cold-water coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves — can dramatically increase fish size and quantity, benefiting both artisanal and commercial fisheries. · Fishing vessels flagged to only 12 countries took approximately 95% of the reported high seas bottom trawl catch in 2001.
· The overall value of high seas bottom trawl fisheries is not likely to exceed $300-$400 million USD annually at present, a figure equivalent to approximately 0.5 percent of the estimated value of the global marine fish catch in 2001 ($75 billion USD).
Created in 1948, IUCN - The World Conservation Union brings together 76 States, 114 government agencies, 800 plus NGOs, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. IUCN is the world's largest environmental knowledge network and has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1000 staff located in 62 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. http://www.iucn.orgpress@iucn.org