Marine environment

More than 70% of the earth is covered by oceans and major seas and there are more than 1.6 million kilometres of coastline. Yet our marine world is under threat: the most insidious is the one posed by marine invasive species. This booklet does not present new or primary information, but rather a synthesis of current issues and trends, including several examples of some of the worst marine invasive species, their spread and impact. It is targeted at the general public to highlight an important but often overlooked issue, and to serve as a source of information and inspiration.

Com base no volume de rejeitos lançados e na extensão das áreas atingidas, o rompimento da Barragem de Fundão, em Mariana, Minas Gerais, foi o maior desastre ambiental de todos os tempos na mineração brasileira, e um dos mais graves do mundo. Ao serem transportados a jusante da barragem rompida, os rejeitos foram se acumulando ao longo dos rios e alcançaram o estuário do Rio Doce, na ecorregião marinha do Leste brasileiro, afetando importantes ecossistemas.

Based on the volume of tailings releases and the distance they travelled, the Fundão Dam failure in southeast Brazil (Mariana, Minas Gerais state) was the largest ever environmental disaster in Brazil’s mining industry, and one of the world’s most serious. As they dispersed downriver, the tailings accumulated along the riverbanks and reached the Rio Doce estuary in the Eastern Brazilian Marine Ecoregion. When the dam failed, the mining company and government agencies conducted rapid assessments.

Although all coastal development projects in Lebanon typically require an environmental impact assessment (EIA), biodiversity has rarely been given specific or appropriate consideration in the EIA process. The objective of this report is to present guidelines that specifically address biodiversity inclusion in EIA studies. For each phase of the EIA process (screening, scoping, and impact assessment), the report outlines current procedures and recommends new steps to be integrated, if/when a biodiversity-inclusive EIA is required.

Although all coastal development projects in Lebanon typically require an environmental impact assessment (EIA), biodiversity has rarely been given specific or appropriate consideration in the EIA process. The objective of this report is to present guidelines that specifically address biodiversity inclusion in EIA studies. For each phase of the EIA process (screening, scoping, and impact assessment), the report outlines current procedures and recommends new steps to be integrated, if/when a biodiversity-inclusive EIA is required.

Plastic pollution originates from various sources. While many industries are taking steps to reduce their dependence on plastic, there is currently no reliable methodology to forecast specifically the extent of the marine plastic leakage from an industry or a country and map potential leakage hotspots throughout the value chain. This report offers, for the first time, a comprehensive framework to measure the inventory of marine plastic leakage, step-by-step and using a life-cycle perspective. It also offers generic data that can be used

The Greening Blue Energy project aims to facilitate well-balanced and science-based discussions on the impacts on the marine environment from offshore renewable energy developments and as such this publication provides a synthesis of current knowledge on the potential biodiversity impacts of offshore wind energy on the marine environment. It is based on scientific evidence and experiences from offshore renewable energy development and other relevant sectors.

Providing a comprehensive account of marine conservation, this book examines human use and abuse of the world's seas and oceans and their marine life, and the various approaches to management and conservation. Healthy marine ecosystems - the goods and services that they provide - are of vital importance to human wellbeing. There is a pressing need for a global synthesis of marine conservation issues and approaches.

This publication is a result of Blue Solutions’ second Regional Forum on Solutions for Oceans, Coasts and Human Well-being in Latin America and the Wider Caribbean Region. This four-day workshop was held in Cancún, Mexico in April 2015. During this event more than 40 participants presented their positive examples and engaged with the larger audience in discussions around how these examples can be adapted to address pressing challenges faced in other regions or sectors in Latin America and the Wider Caribbean.

This publication summarises the results of the European Red List for marine habitats. It provides an overview on the character, extent and status of benthic marine habitat types through assessments undertaken between 2013 and 2016. The results are presented at two geographic levels: across the EU28 and EU28+, the latter including parts of Russia and Norway, as well as Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia.