The sea below 200 meters depth accounts for 95% of the volume of the ocean, making it the largest habitat for life on Earth. Though it is perpetually cold, generally dark, and subject to extreme pressures, the deep sea contains a wealth of unique and unusual species, habitats and ecosystems. It also contains a wealth of mineral resources, some of them in unique or highly enriched concentrations.
A background document for the CBD expert workshop. This document reviews the description of each of the scientific criteria and comments on their potential applications, discusses a variety of ways in which the scientific community understands these criteria, and how they can be used as a foundation for informing future decisions regarding the marine environment of the open oceans and deep seas.
The second paper in this marine series builds on the complementary study described in Marine Series No. 1 that identified several significant regulatory and governance gaps in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).
Sixty-four percent of the world ocean lies in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The first paper in this four-part series was prepared to address the question of whether there is a regulatory or governance gap in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and, if so, how it should be addressed. The study reveals that important regulatory and governance gaps still exist.
This report reveals recent discoveries about the beauty, value and vulnerability of life in the deep seas and in the open ocean. It explores what these astonishing findings mean for current oceans governance, what the impacts are of present and potential human activities, and what can be done to promote effective and sustainable management of the riches of the deep and open oceans.
By far the largest habitat for life on earth and the cradle of new species, habitats and undiscovered ecosystems, our oceans are being intensively exploited and heavily degraded. Marine Protected Areas can be used to restore, safeguard and halt the negative impacts on the biodiversity of these oceans.
