After years of focused campaigning, and backed by state-of-the-art scientific evidence, a new marine protected area (MPA) has been designated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea marine protected area – or NACES MPA – was designated by the 15 countries (and the EU) that are signatories to the OSPARContinue Reading New High Seas MPA in the North Atlantic

GOBI’s intention to be physically present at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France, took a blow when – due to the Covid-19 pandemic – its intended in-person Thematic Session was recategorised by the congress organisers as a virtual Speaker Pitch session. As a result of the change of format, the GOBI contribution nowContinue Reading GOBI at IUCN World Conservation Congress

The French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), in collaboration with Costa Rica’s Fundación MarViva, the Sargasso Sea Commission and the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB), have announced the launch of a new project to protect and manage remarkable areas of the high seas, namely the Costa Rica Thermal Dome and the Sargasso Sea.  The project is toContinue Reading New hybrid governance scheme project kick-off

Banish those lockdown blues with a peek into the latest edition of the GOBI Newsletter, where some of the latest progress on ocean science and management is reported. Topics addressed include: the importance of local, regional and global networks for cooperation in conservation South Africa’s progressive approach to achieve Aichi Targets how the behaviour ofContinue Reading GOBI Newsletter summer 2021 edition out now!

The Bazaruto Archipelago to Inhambane Bay IMMA has formed the basis of a proposed Environmental Protection Area (EPA) in Mozambique, as recommended by Conservation International. The proposed EPA corresponds with the extent of the Bazaruto Archipelago to Inhambane Bay IMMA identified during the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Seas IMMA Workshop held in March 2019.  TheContinue Reading Success story for IMMA uptake in conservation

Global lockdown has been no obstacle for the IUCN Marine Mammal Protection Area Task Force (MMPATF) and IMMA Secretariat, who have just delivered their first ever virtual IMMA workshop (22-26 February 2021), targeting the Black Sea, Turkish Straits System and Caspian Sea Region.  This unscheduled workshop arose out of the gap left by the postponement (dueContinue Reading Virtual IMMA workshop breaks new ground

The sixth and last of the GOBI webinar series was delivered on Thursday 28 January 2021 by five leading experts in the field of hydrothermal vent ecology and spatial analysis. To find out more about the ‘life’ history of hydrothermal vents, the specialist and unique animal communities that live around them, the way these animalsContinue Reading Everything you wanted to know about hydrothermal vents but were too afraid to ask

The fifth webinar in the GOBI webinar series was delivered successfully on Wednesday 13 January 2021, highlighting the impressive progress made by GOBI partner Fundación MarViva in describing and promoting the Costa Rica Thermal Dome. The webinar in full, together with the presentation slides, can be viewed on the GOBI YouTube channel. Many thanks toContinue Reading High Seas and coastal linkages

Pick up your copy of the latest edition of the GOBI newsletter – Winter 2020-21. Inside you will discover the progress made by the GOBI community during the past months, overcoming the challenges imposed by the pandemic. With such resilience on display front and centre, the prospects for progress in 2021 seem truly positive. LetContinue Reading Out now! New GOBI Newsletter – Winter 2020-21

The latest in the series of GOBI webinars – Bioregionalisation of the Indian and southwestern Pacific Ocean – has been delivered by Piers Dunstan, the project’s lead investigator at CSIRO. The presentation describes how the acquisition of data and development of bespoke mathematical models has resulted in the identification of naturally justifiable and distinct provincesContinue Reading Mapping bioregions in the Indian and SW Pacific Oceans