Biodiversity in the Seas

The report outlines eight key action items to protect marine and coastal biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity, focusing on integrated management, protected areas, sustainable fisheries, and the mitigation of global threats like climate change and pollution.

• The report identifies eight critical action items for implementing the Biodiversity Convention in marine environments: instituting Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM), establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), ensuring sustainable use of fisheries, making mariculture sustainable, controlling alien species, monitoring priority biodiversity, building capacity for genetic resource benefit-sharing, and addressing transboundary harm.
• Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are essential for conserving ecosystems and their functions, yet they cover less than one percent of the planet's marine surface area, significantly lower than the over six percent coverage for land surfaces.
• Global fisheries are under severe pressure, with 44 percent of available data showing stocks are fully or heavily exploited, 16 percent overexploited, and 6 percent depleted.
• Destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawling and driftnets, cause significant biodiversity loss through high rates of bycatch; commercial fisheries are estimated to discard 27 million metric tons of incidental take annually.
• Unsustainable mariculture, particularly intensive shrimp farming, has contributed to the destruction of an estimated one-half of the world's mangrove forests over the last decade.
• The introduction of alien species, primarily through the discharge of ships' ballast waters, threatens to homogenize marine ecosystems and disrupt predator-prey relationships.
• Marine genetic resources, such as hyperthermophiles from deep-sea vents and biochemicals from coral reefs, offer significant potential for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, necessitating frameworks for equitable benefit-sharing.
• Global climate change is projected to cause a mean sea-level rise of forty centimeters by 2050, threatening small islands and causing coral bleaching due to increased sea-surface temperatures.
• Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) accumulate in the fats of marine mammals and large predators, causing endocrine, immune, and reproductive system failures.
• The report advocates for a 'precautionary approach' to marine conservation, arguing that a lack of full scientific certainty should not postpone measures to avoid significant biodiversity loss.

APA

de Fontaubert, C., Downes, D. R., & Agardy, T. S. (1996). Biodiversity in the Seas. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BioSeas_IUCN_1996.pdf

Chicago

de Fontaubert, Charlotte, David R. Downes, and Tundi S. Agardy. Biodiversity in the Seas. Center for International Environmental Law, 1996. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BioSeas_IUCN_1996.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Fontaubert |first1=Charlotte |last2=Downes |first2=David R. |last3=Agardy |first3=Tundi S. |title=Biodiversity in the Seas |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1996 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BioSeas_IUCN_1996.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{defontaubert1996biodiversity, author = {de Fontaubert, Charlotte and Downes, David R. and Agardy, Tundi S.}, title = {{Biodiversity in the Seas}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {1996}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BioSeas_IUCN_1996.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }