The latest IMMA regional workshop held in Dhofar, Oman (4-8 March 2019) has identified an unprecedented 55 candidate IMMAs and a further 13 Areas of Interest (AoI). The workshop hosted 38 marine mammal scientists and observers from 15 countries with the sole purpose of identifying important habitats for marine mammals in the western Indian Ocean andContinue Reading Latest IMMA workshop most successful yet

With support from GOBI, MarViva Foundation hosted the workshop “Conservation and sustainable use of the marine resources of the Thermal Dome in areas beyond national jurisdiction”.  It was held on 13-14 February, in San Jose, Costa Rica, with representatives from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica and the Central American Integration System (SICA)Continue Reading Second Costa Rica Thermal Dome governance workshop

The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force has approved 30 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) in the northeast Indian Ocean and southeast Asian seas region.  These 30 IMMAs were part of the outcome of a regional IMMA expert workshop held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia in March 2018.  Now that they have passedContinue Reading 30 new IMMAs recognised in the NE Indian Ocean & SE Asian seas

Following discussions during the latest Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in November 2018 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 42 new EBSA descriptions have been formally welcomed by the Parties and are soon to be communicated to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) before being added to the EBSAContinue Reading 42 new EBSAs added to EBSA repository

The 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP14) closed on 29 November with broad international agreement on reversing the global destruction of nature and biodiversity loss threatening all forms of life on Earth.  Amongst other things, the meeting agreed on a comprehensive and participatory process for developing the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, with anContinue Reading UN Biodiversity Conference closes in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

On 23 November 2018 during CBD COP14 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, GOBI took part in a day-long event titled Sustainable Ocean Day: Ocean Voices. The event, organised by the CBD Secretariat, provided an opportunity for diverse ocean stakeholders to share stories in an unconventional, informal way, by giving a ‘voice’ to coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass,Continue Reading Sustainable Ocean Day: Ocean Voices

In November 2018, as part of GOBI’s support to the identification an implementation of Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), co-chairs of the Marine Mammals Protected Area Task Force (MMPATF) Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara and Erich Hoyt travelled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, in the Bay of Bengal, to work with Indian scientists andContinue Reading Implementing IMMAs in the Andaman Sea

Check out the latest edition of the GOBI Newsletter, launched this week in print at the CBD COP14 in Egypt.   In it you will find what GOBI has been up to during its 10th anniversary, and what it’s working towards in the months ahead.  Enjoy!

The 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference is underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.  This 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity runs from 17 to 29 November 2018. This year, the process to describe ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) celebrates its 10th anniversary.  The Conference in Egypt will be a crucialContinue Reading GOBI at CBD COP14, Egypt

GOBI was pleased to take part in the IUCN WCPA’s Beyond the Aichi Targets Task Force Marine Conservation Consultation meeting, held at the Maison des Océans in Paris on 16 & 17 October 2018.  The meeting focused on future ambitions for MPA coverage, issues associated with connectivity in the marine realm, and on ways toContinue Reading Beyond the Aichi Targets consultation meeting