On 19th October 2026, the inaugural signing ceremony of the Hamilton II Declaration took place in Bermuda, securing collaboration for the future conservation of the Sargasso Sea. Prof. David Johnson (GOBI Secretariat) attended the ceremony in his capacity as a Sargasso Sea Commissioner and recognising GOBI’s involvement with the CBD process for ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs).
The Sargasso Sea was described as an EBSA in 2012. This information has now been updated and added to and is captured in the Socio-Ecosystem Diagnostic Analysis (SEDA) undertaken by the Sargasso Sea Commission. The SEDA comprehensively covers the scientific and technical groundwork needed for a proposal for an area-based management tool (ABMT) under the BBNJ Agreement, and provides compelling evidence that the Sargasso Sea is an important unique ecological oceanic feature as well as an analysis of human impacts on the area.
The purpose of the non-binding Hamilton II Declaration is to build on and strengthen political support for stewardship commitments for conservation and sustainable use of the Sargasso Sea. It recognises that through long-term collective efforts to better understand and explain its unique conservation value, this special area is well placed to be considered for more formal protection under the new BBNJ Agreement: a move the signatories would support. It also welcomes the support of non-governmental collaborating partners.
The event, co-hosted by the Governments of Bermuda and the UK, took place at Government House in Hamilton (pictured below) and David signed on behalf of Seascape Consultants Ltd, which provides the Secretariat for GOBI.
