Oceans, seas and marine resources

Photo: Every day too many men and women across the globe struggle to feed their children a nutritious meal. 795 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach each night. Credit: WFP Website.

A Long Way To Go Before Zero Hunger Appears Within Reach

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes: This was the underlying conviction when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2012. The Zero Hunger vision reflects five elements from within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which taken together, can end hunger, eliminate all forms of malnutrition, and build inclusive and sustainable food systems.

Nearly two years after the international community adopted a set of 17 SDGs to be achieved by 2030, some "20 million people are on the brink of starvation", the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. "We can only achieve Zero Hunger if we transform the rural economy, put smallholders at the centre and invest in sustainable agriculture and food systems," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 30 July 2017

Photo: Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimaram (second from left), and Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) (second from right), and other members of the ACP delegation after a high level meeting on the margins of the UN Ocean Conference in New York on June 6, 2017. Photo: DEPTFO New

ACP Group Supports Oceans Conference Action Plan

By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

BRUSSELS (IDN) - Our Ocean, Our Future: Call for Action is the outcome document agreed by Heads of State and Government and High Level Representatives of the 193 member-states of the United Nations that met in New York from June 5 to 9 2017 at the first-ever Oceans and Seas Conference.

With the Republic of Fiji and the Kingdom of Sweden, as co-conveners, the Conference was a widely participatory event aimed at giving concrete support to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 of the 2030 Agenda that seeks to Conserve and sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources.

The participation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group at the conference was very fitting and timely to shore up support and stand in solidarity with a hosting member state in its endeavour to rally unwavering commitment to accelerate the collective actions of the international community to deliver for the attainment of SDG 14.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 27 July 2017

Photo: Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Island, Dr. Kedrick Pickering (left), with President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson (centre), and Director of the BVI London Office, Benito Wheatley (right). Credit: BVI London Office

British Virgin Islands Leads International Advocacy for Islands

By Desmond Brown

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (IDN) – On the heels of the UN Ocean Conference held in New York between June 5 and 9, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) – a tiny British overseas territory – is highlighting the common challenges faced by islands as it calls on international partners to support the efforts of islands to address their unique challenges.

As co-Chair of the Global Islands Partnership (GLISPA), the British Virgin Islands has been at the forefront of United Nations efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by islands.

“I take great pride as a GLISPA leader in lending my voice to the cause of islands and the sustainability of the ocean in which islands must exist,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources & Labour Dr. Kedrick Pickering told IDN.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 23 June 2017

Photo: A school of Moorish Idols cruise over the coral reef, Ha’apai, Tonga. Credit: UNEP GRID Arendal/Glenn Edney

Historic UN Conference Vows to Restore Ocean Health

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Our ocean is critical to our shared future and common humanity in all its diversity. Our ocean covers three quarters of our planet, connects our populations and markets, and forms an important part of our natural and cultural heritage.

It supplies nearly half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs over a quarter of the carbon dioxide we produce, plays a vital role in the water cycle and the climate system, and is an important source of our planet's biodiversity and of ecosystem services.

It contributes to sustainable development and sustainable ocean-based economies, as well as to poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, maritime trade and transportation, decent work and livelihoods.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 12 June 2017

Photo: ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes.

Unlocking the Potential of the Blue Economy

By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from the opening remarks by the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) at the breakfast event – 'Unlocking the potential of the blue economy for the Sustainable Development of SIDS' – on June 6 in the margins of the Oceans Conference at the UN headquarters in New York. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – There is reason to believe that the year 2017 promises to be an important year for the oceans. With the inclusion of a stand-alone goal for oceans, Sustainable Development Goal 14, we see new impetus at the international efforts to address the current opportunities and challenges that the oceans present.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 08 June 2017

The significance of ocean life across Africa means very little to many people here as they enjoy vacations on ocean-side beaches like Muizernberg beach in Cape Town, shown in the photo. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN-INPS

Oceans in Crisis Around Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – As soon as dusk falls, Petina Dube emerges from her house balancing a sack full of garbage which has been lying uncollected in her yard amid reports that the municipal garbage collectors have no fuel to carry out their job across many residential areas in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

At the age of 43, Dube, a resident of Warren Park high density suburb in Harare, apparently does not care where the garbage will go after she dumps it. “I am honestly not worried about where this garbage will end up; I will just dump it by a stream not far from here,” says Dube.

But for many environmental experts like Happson Chikova, who holds a degree in environmental studies from Zimbabwe’s Midlands State University, waste dumped anywhere eventually ends up in oceans and this spells bad news for marine life.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 06 June 2017

Photo: Humpback whales in North Pass between Lincoln Island and Shelter Island in the Lynn Canal north of Juneau, Alaska. This is a group of 15 whales that were bubble net fishing on 18 August 2007. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Whales Benefit the Environment as Ecosystem Engineers

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – One of the arguments for commercial whaling is that whales compete with humans for fish – they eat fish that would otherwise be available for human consumption.

According to Gísli Víkingsson from the Icelandic Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, whales eat around six million tonnes off Iceland, which is four to six times the amount taken by the Icelandic fishing fleet. “But of course it’s not all fish. Maybe a third is fish, though little is known for most species,” he says.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 20 May 2017

The Ocean Conference: Challenges & Opportunities for Sri Lanka

By Dr Palitha Kohona*

"The oceans have now become a central focus of a range of discussions in UN bodies involving a number of major UN initiatives, including those relating to the SDGs and climate change. While it is easy to get ensnared in the confusion of the UN's myriad political pursuits, practical initiatives that have an immediate effect on the daily lives and livelihoods of millions, such as those on the oceans, tend to be glossed over by the mainstream media."

COLOMBO (IDN) - The landmark United Nations Ocean Conference will take place in New York from June 5 to 9. The close connection between the health of the oceans and climate change now being widely accepted, the outcomes of this conference are likely to have a significant impact on UN activities on the oceans and on climate change for many years to come.Trout.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; UN INSIDER; 26 April 2017

Photo: A conservationist holds a remote controlled drone at the Kalpitiya beach, Sri Lanka. The drone is used to study and protect Dugong, world’s only vegetarian sea mammal. Credit: Stella Paul

In Sri Lanka’s Deep Waters, Marine Conservation Goes Hi-Tech

By Stella Paul

KALPITIYA, Sri Lanka (IDN) – As the midday sun rises higher over Gulf of Mannar, a drone hovers over the blue mass of sea water. Below, a motley crowd of fishermen gathers, straining their eyes at a drone.

A few metres from the crowd, conservationist Prasanna Weerakkody operating the drone raises it to 500 metres, before moving it slowly in different directions, allowing the device to film a large swathe of water.

One day, he believes, the roving camera of this drone will send images of one of the most elusive sea mammals in this ocean: the dugong.

: Stella Paul; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 March 2017

Photo: Dugong mother and offspring from East Timor. Credit: Nick Hobgood | Wikimedia Commons.

Global Meeting Decides to Protect Sea Cows and their Habitats

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ABU DHABI (IDN) – There is a glimmer of hope for Dugongs, also known as sea cows, and their seagrass habitats. The endangered species, which has been under threat by human activity such as entanglement in fishing gear, collision with boats and habitat loss, occurs across the East coast of Africa, South-East Asia, Pacific Islands and Australia.

Governments of 23 out of the 40 countries that are home to the Dugong have agreed in Abu Dhabi to work with the Dugong and seagrass research and conservation community to undertake more standardized research and monitoring activities as a prerequisite for devising tailored conservation measures in their own countries. They were guided by the conviction that better coordination of surveys and data exchange on Dugong populations between countries will improve transboundary protection.