2. Coastal Zone Management

Abstract

The twelfth Conference of the Parties (COP-12) to the CBD met in Pyeongchang, Korea, on 6–17 October. Several decisions from COP-12 expressly touched marine and coastal resources, particularly Decisions XII/22 and XII/23. Decision XII/22 concerned ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAS) that are being designated via a process established in Decisions X729 and XI/17. To date, seven regional workshops (Southern Indian Ocean, Eastern Tropical and Temperate Pacific, North Pacific, South-Eastern Atlantic, Arctic, North-West Atlantic, and Mediterranean) have described EBSAS using criteria established by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). Criteria include uniqueness, special importance for life history stages of species, importance for threatened or endangered species or their habitats, vulnerability or fragility, biological productivity, biological diversity, and naturalness). Decision XII/22 requests the CBD executive secretary to include the summary reports for the listed EBSAS in the EBSAS repository and to submit them before COP-13 to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to study issues related to conservation and sustainable use of these resources in the high seas. The decision stressed that the EBSA process does not affect the sovereign rights of coastal states, rather it is strictly a scientific and technical exercise. It also called the CBD executive secretary, contracting parties, and governments to continue to designate EBSAS in accordance with the established scientific criteria. The decision also encouraged the use of marine spatial planning, network of marine protected areas, impact assessments, and other area-based management tools to promote enhanced conservation and sustainable use of the EBSAS. Decision XII/22 originated via SBSTTA Recommendation XVIII/3 adopted in the eighteenth SBSTTA meeting on 23–28 June in Montreal, Canada.