Previous relevant documents:

- By the World Ocean Network: click here

- By Christophe Lefebvre, IUCN Councillor, French Marine Protected Areas Agency: click here

The Oceans Day at Nagoya—the first-ever Oceans Day at a CBD Conference of the Parties-- held on October 23, 2010, during the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 10, October 18-29, 2010) in Nagoya, Japan, brought together more than 150 participants from 35 countries representing all sectors of the global oceans community--governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the scientific community--to emphasize the importance of marine and coastal biodiversity as a common concern of humankind and essential for preserving life on Earth. Building on the discussions on marine and coastal biodiversity held at the Global Oceans Conference 2010, at UNESCO, Paris, May 3-7, 2010, the Oceans Day at Nagoya addressed the major threats to the world’s marine and coastal biodiversity, which is exacerbated by climate change.

The Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity, adopted at the second meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1995, reaffirmed the critical need to address the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biological diversity, and urged Parties to initiate immediate action to ensure the long-term health and well-being of marine and coastal biodiversity. Although the Jakarta Mandate may have been implemented at different levels, by various actors, and to different extents in different countries and regions, the overall results are deemed unsatisfactory. However, some progress has been made in advancing cross-sectoral, integrated management of marine resources and space; enhancing science-based policy development; strengthening inter-disciplinary scientific partnerships at global and regional scale; and promoting engagement of multi-stakeholders including ocean industries and high level political leaderships.

Oceans Day at Nagoya addressed the status and trends in biodiversity loss and progress made in achieving biodiversity targets, examined various tools and approaches to conserving and sustainably utilizing marine and coastal biodiversity, and discussed potential next steps in advancing the global oceans agenda.  Oceans Day featured presentations from panelists organized into thematic panels focused on major issues in marine and coastal biodiversity.

The co-chairs of the Nagoya Oceans Day drafted the Nagoya Oceans Statement, which called for the high-level government representatives gathered at the CBD COP-10 to rekindle the political will and commitment of resources to halt marine biodiversity loss, restore degraded marine habitats, and to establish global representative and resilient networks of marine and coastal protected areas, in the next decade, 2011-2020, and called for a new process of setting new marine and coastal biodiversity targets at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20) and at the CBD COP 11 in 2012 in order to move the marine biodiversity agenda forward.

Source: Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands: website

L’érosion de la biodiversité se poursuivra au cours du 21^e siècle : les extinctions globales se multiplieront, l’abondance moyenne des espèces diminuera, leur distribution sera bouleversée... Jusqu’à récemment, les scientifiques pensaient que prédire l’évolution de la biodiversité, eu égard à sa complexité, était inenvisageable. Mais aujourd’hui, à l’instar des climatologues, les spécialistes du vivant sont en mesure de produire des prévisions. Un groupe d’experts internationaux, dont plusieurs chercheurs de l’IRD, vient de publier une synthèse des scénarios d’évolution de la biodiversité à l’échelle planétaire. Malgré une certaine incertitude des modèles, les tendances annoncées convergent : sans de profonds changements du mode de développement humain et économique, la planète va droit au désastre. Modifications dans l’utilisation des terres, changement climatique et surexploitation des ressources naturelles… l’homme est en effet au cœur des principales menaces sur la biodiversité. Les scénarios dessinent néanmoins des pistes pour agir.

IISD is pleased to announce the launch of Biodiversity Policy & Practice: a knowledgebase of UN and intergovernmental activities addressing international biodiversity policy.

• To visit the website: click here.

• To read the Marine and Coastal news: click here.

• To find the latest update: click here.

• To consult the iCalendar: click here.

Governments meeting at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) have approved a step change for biodiversity: a new Strategic Plan for the next ten years to reduce the current pressures on the planet’s biodiversity and take urgent action to save and restore nature; an agreed new protocol on access and benefit sharing; and have pledged some serious new resources to bring the agreements to life.

• To learn more about the Plan, read the IUCN article: click here.

Every year on June 8, across the 5 continents, aquariums, research centres, museums, associations and institutions with a marine environment outreach role celebrate World Oceans Day. More than 200 organisations from 50 countries come together to take part in this festival of the ocean. On the programme there are organised activities, games, arts and craft workshops, conferences and films; it’s a fun day out and entirely dedicated to the ocean.

The World Ocean Network and the Ocean Project have worked closely together to promote World Oceans Day.

Thanks to all the collective and individual efforts and to the ever increasing public mobilisation for World Oceans Day, the United Nations General Assembly has designated the 8^th June World Ocean Day. The first official international celebration took place in 2009.

• To visit World Ocean Network’s webpage: click here.
• To visit the Ocean Project webpage: click here.
• To discover the programme and pictures of World Oceans Day 2010: click here.

« Un Océan pour l’humanité ; Les services rendus par la mer à l’homme » est le titre d’une exposition itinérante qui rend compte des services rendus à l’homme par les milieux naturels marins.

Elle a été créée par Nausicaá – Centre National de la Mer en partenariat avec l’UICN .

L’objectif de cette exposition est de faire prendre conscience des services écologiques, sociaux et économiques rendus par les milieux naturels marins et côtiers aux communautés humaines.

L’importance de préserver la biodiversité et les écosystèmes océaniques pour limiter l’ampleur des bouleversements climatiques et écologiques actuels est mise en évidence.

Des témoignages viennent illustrer les initiatives positives prises partout dans le monde pour préserver un océan en bonne santé.

L’exposition est un véritable parcours de découverte dans un esprit grand public constitué de cloisons d’images grand format, de décors, d’un jeu quizz interactif et d’une zone audiovisuelle.

Elle a pour l'instant été présentée à l'UNESCO à Paris lors de la 5ème Conférence Mondiale des Océans puis dans le cadre de la Fête de la Science à Capelle-la-Grande.

Te mana o te moana is a French Polynesian non-profit foundation, state-approved and officially recognized by the environmental code and a member of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), involved in marine conservation since 2004.

Through its research, conservation, communication and educational activities, te mana o te moana strives to protect the marine environment of French Polynesia and to educate the public.

Te mana o te moana has organized the 1^st International Symposium on Sea turtles in French Polynesia, October 26 and 27^th in Moorea Island (InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa). Find the programme here.

It gathered local NGOs, research centers, fishermen, environmental offices, local authorities and international scientists.

Goals were:

- to establish a true assessment of the actions already carried out in French Polynesia and needs for the future.

- to define the local priorities in  both conservation and research of the sea turtles.

- to define proposals for conservation plans involving experimented actors and adapted to the specificity of French Polynesia.

• Download the Symposium synthesis document (in French): click here.
  

The Ocean Info Pack consists in a practical package of information, suggestions of activities and communication techniques on such issues as: Why is the ocean important to humanity? What is the state of the ocean? What can we do?

The objective of the Ocean Info Pack is to raise public awareness on Ocean issues and inspire action in favour of the Blue Planet.

The tools have been proposed by World Ocean Network partners to provide other professionals and all persons who wish to communicate on ocean issues with ideas for their own communication. They can be adapted to different environments and publics.

The 4^th International Meeting "Acting together for the future of the Blue Planet", in link with International Year of Biodiversity 2010, was held on 9^th-12^th May, 2010 at Nausicaá, Boulogne sur Mer, FRANCE.

It proposed the first World Ocean Academy on the 9^th May and followed the 5^th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, 3^rd-7^th May, 2010 - UNESCO, Paris, FRANCE. "Ensuring Survival, Preserving Life, Improving Governance; Oceans, Climate, Biodiversity: from Copenhagen 2009 to Nagoya 2010."