Ocean Action - Issue 1

Secretary-General António Guterres and Mr. Peter Thomson

APPOINTMENT OF NEW SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE OCEAN

On 12 September 2017, Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Mr. Peter Thomson, President of the 71st session of the General Assembly, as his Special Envoy for the Ocean.

VOLUNTARY COMMITMENTS GAIN MOMENTUM

To date 1402 Voluntary Commitments have been registered for the implementation of SDG 14 through the dedicated Ocean Conference online database. The registry remains open for new commitments to be registered by all stakeholders, click the button below to register a new Voluntary Commitment.

VOLUNTARY COMMITMENTS RELATED TO MANGROVES - WEBINAR #1

To support implementation of the voluntary commitments, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean Mr. Peter Thomson, in collaboration with UN DESA, will be supporting Communities of Ocean Action among all stakeholders to spur further action and maintain the momentum generated by the first ever UN Ocean Conference held in June 2017. As a first step, on 7 September 2017, a webinar was organized with a focus on arrangements for following up on voluntary commitments, establishing action communities among stakeholders, and hearing updates from participants on commitments related to mangroves. Read more ...

Updates to Voluntary Commitments

“The Ocean Cleanup”, (#OceanAction15227) is a commitment aimed at environmentally friendly, large-scale and efficiently remove plastic pollution from aquatic ecosystems. The initiative led by The Ocean Cleanup Foundation has successfully deployed The New North Sea Prototype, to test and verify system components ahead of the deployment of their first cleanup system in mid-2018. Read more ...

Marine Educator Krishna helps the students from Baie Lazare Primary School (Seychelles) learn about mangroves.

As part of their voluntary commitment related to marine education and reduction of marine plastic (#OceanAction20396), WiseOceans pledged to launch an education programme in the SIDS by 2020. In collaboration with their partners, Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, WiseOceans have launched a programme with Baie Lazare Primary School in Seychelles, mangroves being one of the topics covered. The programme includes traditional classroom based sessions (involving a presentation), and a field trip. Additionally, the children of the programme has created a mural for their school wall on mangroves. The programme is being promoted through social media channels, and has been recognized by the Ministry of Education, Seychelles. Read more ...

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), a partnership between governments, international organizations, and non-government organizations, has launched a grants programme based on its plan of action 2016-2018 as part of their voluntary commitment “The ICRI plan of Action 2016-2018” (#OceanAction16778). Among the five themes of the plan of action is the commitment to raise awareness on the importance of coral reefs and related ecosystems to help mitigate the impact of climate change, and encourage financing for projects and initiatives which aim to protect and restore coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses. ICRI is hoping to fund at least one mangroves related project related. Read more ...

The voluntary commitment “Multi-stakeholder efforts to enhance socio-ecological landscape resilience in Pakistan's Indus Delta area” (#OceanAction19371) by UNDP/GEF Small Grants Program Pakistan is reporting that, to date, approximately 7000 acres of Mangroves have been conserved through reforestation processes and other co-related activities of their commitment to enhance socio-ecological landscape resilience in Pakistan's Indus Delta. Furthermore, 240 Master Trainers have been trained on Mangrove Plantations in the region. Read more ...

The voluntary commitment “Taking Action to Increase Mangrove Habitat 20% by 2030” (#OceanAction14787), a partnership between the Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund, are reporting to have officially launched The Global Mangrove Alliance with the aim to reverse the loss of critically important mangrove habitats worldwide. The Global Mangrove Alliance is a unique platform that brings together technical experts, civil society organizations, governments, local communities, businesses, funding agencies and foundations to accelerate a comprehensive, coordinated, global approach to mangrove conservation and restoration at a scale that matters. The Alliance brings an extensive portfolio of mangrove work to the table, creating a strong baseline from which to scale up mangrove conservation and restoration efforts. Read more ...

The voluntary commitment “Blue Carbon Code of Conduct” (#OceanAction20420), aimed at harnessing the carbon value of coastal ecosystems in order to achieve goals in conservation and climate change, announced that over 40 NGOs, 5 academic institutions, 47 members of the scientific community, and the UN Environment, have signed up and endorsed the initiative. Read more ...

Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) Conservation Trust, following up on its commitment titled “Phoenix Islands Protected Area: Bring PIPA Home” (#OceanAction20784), has developed a partnership with the Ministry of Environment of Kiribati in order to establish a coordinated effort for mangrove replantation. PIPA also supported Kiribati during the Pacific Islands Roundtable. Read more ...

The Sustainable Solutions Ocean Opportunities on Small Island States project, led by World Team Now, has been assessing and removing invasive species, and replanting mangroves, in Fiji, as part of their voluntary commitment “The World Team Project: Sustainable Solutions Oceans Opportunities & Small Island States (SOS-IS)” (#OceanAction21714). They are also reaching out to various stakeholders and donors in New York and California in order to bring additional resources. Read more ...

The voluntary commitment “Plant 100,000 mangrove plants in 10 hectares of wetland between 2017 and 2018 in Guanaja” (#OceanAction17254) by Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) Guanaja announced that they to date have replanted 20% of their target of 100,000 mangrove plants in 10 hectares of wetland, approximately 10,000 plants per hectare. These plants will be planted in wetland areas around the island of Guanaja, Honduras. Read more ...

The International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions (IDUM) have established an action plan based on their commitment “Establishment of the International Marine Training Centre for Innovative Science and Technology for Sea Dumped Weapons, and Shipborne Disposal Solutions to Support the Eradication of all Underwater Munitions” (#OceanAction21356) and are mobilizing partners in the private sector to establish center, in addition to developing a roadmap for an International Treaty on Munitions. Read more ...