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Information Types

  • Side Events (33)

Meetings

  • SBSTTA 17 (33)

Subjects

Aichi Targets

Date

Side Event

Ecologically or Biologically significant Marine Areas (EBSAs)

Organizer
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Date and Time
15 October 2013 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Seventeenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice

Pursuant to CBD decisions X/29 and XI/17, the CBD Secretariat has convened six regional workshops on ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) since November 2011. So far, experts from 92 countries and 79 organizations have contributed to the six CBD workshops. The results of the first two workshops, in the Western South Pacific and the Wider Caribbean and Western Mid-Atlantic regions, were considered by COP 11, and the results of the four other regional workshops will be submitted for consideration by SBSTTA 18, scheduled for June 2014, and the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12), scheduled for October 2014. The Secretariat is currently collaborating with various Parties and relevant organizations to organize additional EBSA workshops in the remaining regions, as requested by COP 11 in its decision XI/17. This side event will brief participants on progress made in the organization of a series of regional workshops on the description of areas meeting EBSA criteria, and explain the scientific processes involved in the above-mentioned regional workshops and their contribution toward the enhancement of each region’s scientific capacity and collaborative progress toward implementing the Strategic Plan and achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. More specifically, this side event will highlight: (i) our scientific understanding of marine biodiversity in open- ocean and deep-sea habitats; (ii) scientific data and information provided to regional workshops; (iii) the expert-driven assessment process in the regional workshops; (iv) capacity- building and scientific collaboration generated through the EBSA regional workshops; and (v) potential use of EBSA- related scientific information to further enhance our efforts toward achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets for marine areas.