From 2016 to 2023, GOBI received a EUR 6.5M grant from the German Government’s International Climate Initiative (IKI) to use the information contained within EBSA descriptions as the basis for promoting environmental protection and management for specific areas of the global ocean. This seven-year programme of work has helped determine the strengths, challenges and limitations of available marine ecosystem data around the world, whilst developing new tools, methodologies and resources to fill knowledge gaps and inform the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources at national, regional and international levels. Spanning six research themes, the project explored and validated approaches to understanding the distribution of key marine species and ecosystems in the world’s ocean, including through the development of regional biogeographies and establishing more comprehensive visualisations of marine connectivity and migratory corridors. Our work has identified areas of the ocean that are particularly important for marine mammals and seabirds and has strengthened our understanding of the genetic connectivity between deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems, including how these ecosystems need to be protected from the impacts of human activities such as deep-sea mining. An overarching aim of the project was to make a significant contribution to the knowledge required to underpin protected area networks in the global ocean and make this available to appropriate policy instruments, as well as to support advances in specific regions – including work focused on fostering broader recognition of the importance of a unique upwelling system in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In the final phase of the project, the new tools developed by GOBI were applied in a regional setting, providing the basis for more coordinated conservation and sustainable use planning in the north-west Indian Ocean.

The project’s results have now been summarised in a new ‘highlights’ report. This document presents the highlights and achievements from GOBI’s IKI grant, reflects on lessons learned, and considers the legacy that GOBI’s work has contributed to global and regional ocean governance processes.

(Banner image courtesy Hannes Klostermann / Ocean Image Bank)