Description
SOI will provide a global platform to build partnerships and enhance capacity to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets related to marine and coastal biodiversity in a holistic manner. This will contribute to the capacity development of SIDS from national to subnational level, and through thematic and regional cooperation initiatives) to sustainably manage their ocean and coastal biodiversity and benefit from the many environmental, social, and economic services provided by healthy marine ecosystems.
Aichi Biodiversity Targets
Target 6: By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.
Target 10: By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.
Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
Target 12: By 2020 the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.
Methodologies
The Sustainable Ocean Initiative builds on the efforts, resources, and experiences of its many partners by providing a holistic and strategic framework through which to catalyze partnerships across all ocean sectors and leverage resources to facilitate the achievement of Aichi Targets on marine and coastal biodiversity.
The approach of the Sustainable Ocean Initiative focuses on:
- Identifying best practices, facilitating information sharing and exchange, and learning from both successful and unsuccessful experiences;
- Creating partnerships that can provide for targeted capacity building, training and technical assistance;
- Providing for a two-way communication between global policy and scientific communities and local stakeholders
- Improving the scientific basis for implementation, including through improved technologies, cooperative research efforts, objective monitoring, results-based initiatives, open access data and analysis, and integration of local knowledge and science; and
- Monitoring progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets on marine and coastal biodiversity (particularly targets 6, 10 and 11) and facilitating the provision of guidance and guidelines that will help their achievement.
The central activities of SOI include:
· National, subnational and regional level capacity development workshops;
· Development of training materials of modules addressing conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, with a focus on supporting ground-level implementation;
· Development of an online information-sharing mechanism to link different sources of information on ocean science and policy and provide centralized access to important sources of information to support research prioritization and policy development and implementation;
· Facilitating sharing of lessons-learned from different experiences in ocean and coastal management, including through online information-sharing mechanism, capacity development workshops, and global partnership meetings;
· Development of a training-of-trainers programme to equip potential trainers with the background knowledge, skills and practical experience needed to train individuals at different levels and relay this information in a way that is useful to managers and ground-level implementers.
· Development of expert guidance materials to support sound and science-based policymaking and impementation
· Identification of specific opportunities for partnerships to improve on-the-ground implementation, with a focus on sustainable fisheries (Aichi Target 6), marine protected areas (Aichi Target 11), and the impacts of multiple stressors, including climate change and ocean acidification, on vulnerable marine ecosystems such as coral reefs (Aichi Target 10), among others.
Planned SOI activities include (exact dates for forthcoming activities to be confirmed):
- SOI Website/Information-sharing Platform Development (2013-2014)
- SOI Publication Guidance document to address Aichi Targets through Integrated Coastal Management (2013-2014)
- SOI Global Partnership meeting at CBD COP 12 (3-4 Oct 2014, Seoul)
- SOI High level Meeting at CBD COP 12 (16 October 2014, Pyeongchang)
- SOI Capacity Building Workshop in South America (February 2015)
- SOI Capacity Building Workshop in East Africa (October 2015)
- SOI Capacity Building Workshop in South Pacific (December 2015)
- Development of SOI Training of Trainers programme (2014-2015)
- Additional national and regional capacity development workshops (Dates and venues TBD)
All of the activities of SOI aim to focus centrally on capacity building to provide countries, in particular SIDS and developing countries, with the tools and resources needed to progress towards the achievement of the CBD Aichi Biodiversity Target on marine and coastal biodiversity (in particular, Aichi Biodiversity Targets 6, 10, 11 and 12).
Methodologies