After 13 years leading GOBI’s efforts in championing the conservation of biological diversity in the marine environment, David Johnson is handing over the reins to Dominic Pattinson who will take on the GOBI Coordinator role in October 2025. Whilst we are sad to see David hang up his GOBI hat, we are delighted to have Dominic on board!
Dominic (right) joins the GOBI Secretariat fresh from his previous role as the Executive Secretary of the OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR). He steps into the GOBI Coordinator shoes at an exciting time: the EBSA process is entering for a new phase, the BBNJ Agreement comes into force, and a number of projects to take forward GOBI’s collective expertise are waiting in the wings.
During his time at OSPAR, Dominic supported the objectives of the 16 OSPAR Contracting Parties, he steered the development and implementation of North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy (NEAES) 2030 which sets out OSPAR’s vision, strategic and operational objectives until 2030. He was also heavily involved in the production of OSPAR’s Quality Status Report 2023 that provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic. Dominic also brings his experience of overseeing the designation of the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea Basin (NACES) MPA – the largest in the North-East Atlantic – as well as legally binding OSPAR Decisions on reducing pollution from ship scrubbers and marine litter pollution, and the extension of the OSPAR maritime area by more than 2.5 million km2 to include Macaronesian waters.
Prior to joining OSPAR, Dominic worked for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) where he worked on domestic and international policy development and implementation. For the last eight years of his time at Defra he focussed on marine environment protection policies at a national, European, and international level. This included leading on the development of the UK’s Marine Strategy, marine litter policies, environmental aspects of deep-sea mining and the UK’s Global Ocean Alliance and 30×30 initiatives. Dominic joined Seascape in October 2025 to take on the role of GOBI Coordinator.
After a handover period during October 2025, David will take a step back from active GOBI duty but will remain in an advisory capacity to help support GOBI’s new projects as they come online. Friends and colleagues will be relieved to know that the pink trousers are not fully retired yet!
