Minerals are non-renewable resources (at least within human timeframes) but mining them is now apparently a sustainable enterprise, not a one-way street of exploitation. ISA provides an international and transparent forum to regulate and manage all mineral resources related activities and ensure protection of the marine environment in the “Area”, the deep seabed and subsoil beyond national jurisdiction, for the benefit of all humanity.
The Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11 consists of estimates of human population density (number of persons per square kilometer) based on counts consistent with national censuses and population registers, for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. A proportional allocation gridding algorithm, utilizing approximately 13.5 million national and sub-national administrative units, was used to assign population counts to 30 arc-second grid cells.
Bio-ORACLE is a set of GIS rasters providing geophysical, biotic and environmental data for surface and benthic marine realms. The data are available for global-scale applications at a spatial resolution of 5 arcmin (approximately 9.2 km at the equator).
Linking biodiversity occurrence data to the physical and biotic environment provides a framework to formulate hypotheses about the ecological processes governing spatial and temporal patterns in biodiversity, which can be useful for marine ecosystem management and conservation.
GEBCO's aim is to provide the most authoritative publicly-available bathymetry of the world's oceans. It operates under the joint auspices of the International Hydrographic Organization(IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) (of UNESCO).
GEBCO produces and makes available a range of bathymetric data sets and products. This includes a global bathymetric grid; gazetteer of undersea feature names, a Web Map Service and printable maps of ocean bathymetry.
Current State of Knowledge of Cetacean Threats, Diversity and Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region
Current State of Knowledge of Cetacean Threats, Diversity and Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region
Summary table of the status of Pacific Island countries in relation to International and Regional conventions.
This dataset shows the global distribution of seamounts and knolls identified using global bathymetric data at 30 arc-sec resolution. A total of 33,452 seamounts and 138,412 knolls were identified, representing the largest global set of identified seamounts and knolls to date. Seamount habitat was found to constitute approximately 4.7% of the ocean floor, whilst knolls covered 16.3%.
The research leading to these results received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme, and from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) is a collaboration between Aberystwyth University (U.K.), solo Earth Observation (soloEO; Japan), Wetlands International the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Reefs at Risk Revisited is a high-resolution update of the original global analysis, Reefs at Risk: A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the World’s Coral Reefs. Reefs at Risk Revisited uses a global map of coral reefs at 500-m resolution, which is 64 times more detailed than the 4-km resolution map used in the 1998 analysis, and benefits from improvements in many global data sets used to evaluate threats to reefs (most threat data are at 1 km resolution, which is 16 times more detailed than those used in the 1998 analysis).
The InterRidge Vents Database is a global database of submarine hydrothermal vent fields. The InterRidge Vents Database is supported by the InterRidge program for international cooperation in ridge-crest studies (www.interridge.org).
Green Turtle Nesting Sites and Sea Turtle Legislation throughout Oceania
This dataset shows the global distribution of cold-water corals. Occurrence records are given for 86 Families under the subclass Octocorallia (octocorals; also known as Alcyonaria) and four Orders (in Class Anthozoa): Scleractinia (reef-forming corals), Antipatharia (black corals), Zoanthidae (encrusting or button polyps), and Pennatulacea (sea pens). Occurrence records are also available for the order sub-Order Filifera (lace corals) in Class Hydrozoa.
This dataset shows the global distribution of coral reefs in tropical and subtropical regions. It is the most comprehensive global dataset of warm-water coral reefs to date, acting as a foundation baseline map for future, more detailed, work. This dataset was compiled from a number of sources by UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the WorldFish Centre, in collaboration with WRI (World Resources Institute) and TNC (The Nature Conservancy).
This dataset shows the modelled global patterns of above-ground biomass of mangrove forests. The dataset was developed by the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, with support from The Nature Conservancy. The work is based on a review of 95 field studies on carbon storage and fluxes in mangroves world-wide. A climate-based model for potential mangrove above-ground biomass was developed, with almost four times the explanatory power of the only previous published model.
This is a MaxEnt model map of the global distribution of the seagrass biome. Species occurrence records were extracted from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) Ocean Data Viewer and Ocean biogeographic information system (OBIS). This map shows the suitable habitats for the seagrass distribution at global scale.
Sea Turtles As a Flagship Species: Different Perspectives Create Conflicts in the Pacific Islands
“Vemööre” is a term in the Kwenyï language spoken by people from the Isle of Pines in New Caledonia. It is used to highlight a collective commitment and responsibility to implement the principles of life, to preserve balance, to build alliances, and to respect the word between people and between the spirits of our environment.
This Pacific Islands Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas2021-2025 is the principal regional strategy document for environmental conservation in the Pacific. Its purpose is to guide broad strategic guidance for nature conservation planning, prioritisation, and implementation in our region. It reflects the urgent need for transformative action in response to the multiple accelerating threats, both established and emerging, that are faced by nature and people in the Pacific.
This dataset hosts 31 individual environmental indicator assessments that are in the **State of Environment and Conservation in the Pacific Islands : 2020 Regional report.**
Regional indicators are used to understand the current status of conservation in the region and to establish a process for periodic reviews of the status of biodiversity and implementation of environmental management measures in the Pacific islands region.
Each Pacific regional indicator is assessed with regard to:
This first state of the environment report for the Pacific region uses regional environment indicators to assess the status, trends, and data quality and availability for the endorsed Pacific environmental priorities. This report also includes an update of the State of Conservation in Oceania report produced in 2013, which was endorsed and published in 2017.