The latest edition of the GOBI newsletter is now out! Featuring key results emerging from GOBI’s 7-year grant from the International Climate Initiative, latest ocean policy developments, recent workshops and meetings, ocean conservation initiatives, and much more.

24 October 2023: Ten years ago today, the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force was launched at the International Marine Protected Area Congress (IMPAC3) in Marseille. At that time, it was a distant dream to establish a scientific process, drawing on masses of published and unpublished data, to bring together disparate groups of whaleContinue Reading Celebrating 10 years of IMMAs

BirdLife International has unveiled its Marine Flyways – the six major routes that migratory seabirds regularly use to travel between their breeding and non-breeding areas. A special preview event on 12 October 2023 introduced the concept to more than 100 participants at an event at BirdLife HQ in Cambridge UK and online, ahead of theContinue Reading BirdLife International launches marine flyways

The final workshop under GOBI’s grant from the International Climate Initiative took place in Muscat, Oman on 2-4 October 2023. Showcasing the tools and methodologies that GOBI has developed over the past 7 years, this workshop aimed to demonstrate their use in supporting ecosystem-oriented marine management and marine spatial planning in the North-West Indian OceanContinue Reading Bringing it all together in Oman

Connectivity is an essential component that contributes to how ecosystems function. Numerous studies have shown that species that depend on different areas for feeding, breeding, and development also rely on how these spaces are connected. A comprehensive assessment of how these individual studies described global marine connectivity is a first step in learning how toContinue Reading Lessons on marine connectivity after 25+ years of tracking migratory species

By Tammy Davies, Ramesh Kumar Selvaraj, Sathiyaselvam P. A 3-day workshop convened by BirdLife International and Bombay Natural History Society was held in Mumbai, India, in June 2023. The aim of the workshop was to bring together the available data to document major movement patterns by seabirds in the North Indian Ocean to complement theContinue Reading North Indian Ocean Seabird Workshop held in Mumbai

The tenth workshop of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force concluded an intensive week in Germany (22-26 May 2023) with the identification of 36 new candidate Important Marine Mammal Areas (cIMMAs) going for independent review. Participants consisted of 53 scientists and observers from 13 countries who are specialists in whales, dolphins, porpoises andContinue Reading Announcing 36 more candidate IMMAs for the NE Atlantic and Baltic Sea

Report from the GOBI “EBSAs in ABNJ” expert workshop now available Anticipating that area-based management tools in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) will likely play a crucial part in efforts to meet the marine element of Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (30% of the ocean protected by 2030), GOBI held an expertContinue Reading GOBI releases report on opportunities for EBSAs in ABNJ

The first quarter of 2023 has seen two major events in the marine conservation calendar come to fruition – both long overdue. The 5th International Marine Protected Areas Conference (IMPAC5) in Vancouver in early February 2023 was a chance for the marine protected area community to come together, take stock and plan new initiatives. GOBIContinue Reading Up and running (…or should that be swimming?)

“Look! More humpback dolphins!” In flat calm waters at the mouth of the Indus Estuary we were watching Indian Ocean humpback dolphins, Sousa plumbea, lift their pale grey platform dorsal fins high in the air before diving for small fish and shrimps. After a few splashes they were gone – off to find more food.Continue Reading IMMA Secretariat travels to Karachi to help implement IMMAs in the coastal waters of the Arabian Sea