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

The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released the first electronic atlas of priority areas for sharks, rays, and chimaeras (also known as ‘ghost sharks’). Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, and are in desperate need of new and improved management. The ISRA project uses the bestContinue Reading First map of Important Shark and Ray Areas released

After years of work and months of planning, February 2023 is going to be a very busy month for GOBI, as we attend back-to-back events in the build-up to a major milestone in our mission: the near completion of our IKI-funded, seven-year programme of research. The month begins with the GOBI ‘Making it Count’ SymposiumContinue Reading Hooray! GOBI embarks on the manic month of Ma… February

Amidst the furore of finalising the CBD’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – now know as the Kunming-Montreal GBF – the results of the most recent Regional Workshop to describe Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (the North-East Atlantic Workshop held in 2019) were accepted by the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15)Continue Reading EBSAs in the North-East Atlantic Ocean added to the CBD Repository

GOBI will be in attendance at CBD COP15, co-hosting three side events. They are: Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs): Describing the special places of the ocean in a changing world 13:15, Friday 9 December 2022: CEE Meeting Room 510A Co-organisers: CBD Secretariat & GOBI A decade ago, the CBD community embarked on anContinue Reading GOBI at CBD COP15