As a member of the Community of Ocean Action, you can contribute in several ways.
Register Voluntary Commitments
The Ocean Conference Registry of Voluntary Commitments remains open for all stakeholders to register their ocean action. We encourage all to stakeholders to register their ocean action to show their commitment to SDG 14.
Share updates of your Voluntary Commitments
All stakeholders with a registered Voluntary Commitment are welcome to share their progress of its implementation on an ongoing basis. Updates will be featured on this page and in the Ocean Action monthly newsletter.
Share your knowledge
All members of the Community Ocean Action can share their expertise, knowledge, best practices and respond to questions in the Knowledge Forum
The Communities of Ocean Action are open to anyone with a registered Voluntary Commitment in the Ocean Conference Registry of Voluntary Commitments.
Steps to join
- Register a Voluntary Commitment for SDG 14
- Sign in to your account
- Click Join Community in the above button
Questions and Answers
1. I have registered a Voluntary Commitment, but I do not have an account
- Click Account above and create your account.
- Once created, Contact us and let us know so we can link your Voluntary Commitment to your account.
2. I have an account, but I still can't join
- Contact us and let us know so we can link your Voluntary Commitment to your account.
Marine and coastal ecosystems management
Diverse area-based measures and management tools can be used to sustainably manage, protect, conserve and restore marine ecosystems, including for example the application of ecosystem approaches, marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management and the establishment of marine protected areas, consistent with international law and based on best available scientific information, including representative networks. The main purpose of these measures is to sustainably manage, protect, conserve and restore coastal and marine areas and resources, including underwater cultural heritage, while also supporting economically valuable activities and having important social impacts. The global extent of MPAs has grown steadily and in 2014 covered approximately 3.4% (12.3 million km2) of the global ocean, with decreasing numbers of MPAs at greater distances from the shoreline. Area-based management is seen as one of the key tools for delivering SDG 14 and for providing for both ocean conservation and a variety of sustainable uses, while alleviating conflicts between users of ocean space.
More than 130 voluntary commitments relate to marine protected areas, and over 30 commitments include marine spatial planning. Large marine ecosystems (LMEs) feature in 20 commitments, while at least five include community-based marine management. Many of these commitments include increasing the area protected or sustainably managed. This Community of Ocean Action aims to support its members in implementing their area-based management-related voluntary commitments by exchanging progress reports, experiences, lessons learned and good practices.Latest
new commitment
Indigenous People, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Climate Change: The Iconic Underwater Cultural Heritage of Stone Tidal Weirs
The UN has declared the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), encouraging and supporting many initiatives to help in identifying the knowledge for sustainable development, generating this knowledge and understanding of the ocean, or increasing the use of ocean knowledge. Traditional ecological knowledge has been develope [more]
new commitment
SCUBA Engagement Applying Submersible Technology to Advance Reef Science
With accurate, low-cost automated sensor technology attached to their dive gear, citizen scientist recreational scuba divers can reduce environmental data gaps, such as in the temperature, salinity, and light regimes that coral reefs experience. Data they collect and share will enhance the resolution and accuracy of satellite remote sensing dataset [more]
new commitment
Parliamentary Campaign for Protection of the Oceans and Implementation of SDG 14
PGA, a non-profit, non-partisan international network of approximately 1,200 legislators in 136 elected parliaments around the globe, aims to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality and population issues by informing, convening, and mobilizing parliamentarians to realize these goals. PGAs Parliamentary Campaign for [more]
new commitment
Open & transparent delivery of knowledge for fisheries management in support of SDG 14.4
ICES mission is to advance and share scientific understanding of marine ecosystems and the services they provide and to use this knowledge to generate state-of-the-art advice for meeting conservation, management, and sustainability goals. ICES advice is independent and based on the best available knowledge. To remain relevant and credible, it shoul [more]
new commitment
Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP) for Tuna fishing operations
PNG Fishing Industry Association (PNG FIA) is promoting and supporting initiatives that guide certain activities associated with its member's fishing operation: to minimize incidental mortality of non-target species and impacts on marine ecosystems, manage and control abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear in the marine environment, m [more]
new commitment
Green-Gray Community of Practice
The Global Green-Gray Community of Practice, created in June 2020 and led by Conservation International, is an international collaboration across the conservation, engineering, finance, and construction sectors to generate learning and innovation to achieve climate adaptation benefits for communities, their future generations, and biodiversity. The [more]
new commitment
The Coral Sonata
ARTSail originated in 2016 thanks to a Knight Arts Challenge grant. A nomadic, multi-faceted platform, ARTSail facilitates interdisciplinary practice to cultural producers in the creation of innovative content addressing the climate crisis specific to South Florida. We connect artists with climate activists, scientists and marine experts to invest [more]
new commitment
Water Ecologies for our Shared Future
ARTSail originated in 2016 thanks to a Knight Arts Challenge grant. A nomadic, multi-faceted platform, ARTSail facilitates interdisciplinary practice to cultural producers in the creation of innovative content addressing the climate crisis specific to South Florida. We connect artists with climate activists, scientists and marine experts to inves [more]
new commitment
Zoe : Artificial Reef Assessment + Coral Planting
Zoe - A Living Sea Sculpture is a 15ft x 9ft x 6ft coral restoration project in Cozumel, Mexico using electrolysis through seawater to precipitate Calcium Carbonate onto a steel, DNA-inspired structure 12ft deep & 60m from shore. This project unites art, science, technology, and tourism to help regenerate corals and marine biodiversity in a highly [more]
new commitment
Whales: Spotting and Tagging Using Aerial Surveillance Technology (Drones), Entanglements and Krill Shortages
History:
*Ship strikes are a leading cause of whale fatalities.
*Whales in surface activities are found to have less reaction time due to feeding, sleeping or inability to move as fast as oncoming ships.
*Ships also have manoeuvrability issues to avoid whales due to operation on liquid surfaces.
Whale Benefits:
Whales provide many benef [more]
new commitment
Supporting efforts to gather ocean stakeholders and communicate the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)
With different activities we support the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health and gather ocean stakeholders in Germany and Europe with the following projects and activities:
- Love Your Ocean Dusseldorf boat show
- Activities with different partners [more]
new commitment
Workshop on ecosystem-based management in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science
Ecosystem-based management may be a central practice that needs to be implemented for the UN Decade of Ocean Science to be effective. With a view to strengthen ecosystem-based management in the Baltic Sea region, HELCOM commits to organise a joint workshop bringing together policy, management and science. Key topics of such a workshop could deal wi [more]