The MACBIO project classify the entire marine environment within the MACBIO participating countries to inform, in particular, their national marine spatial and marine protected area planning efforts. The draft outputs are marine bioregions that include reef-associated and deepwater biodiversity assemblages with complete spatial coverage at a scale useful for national planning. Results for the Solomon Islands have been presented to the marine experts and government of the Solomon Islands for review.
This dataset contains mapping information (shapefile) of reefs in Tuvalu including its distribution. A foundation baseline map for future, more detailed, work.
Spatial dataset for reefs in Vanuatu. Source: Institute of Marine Remote Sensing (IMARS).
* Attribute details on reef type: barrier atoll-bank, barrier island, fringing island, land, non-reef, patch atoll-bank, patch island.
* Attribute details on depth: deep, land, shallow, variable.
Regional data on marine pollution: observer pollution events. Marine pollution from ships and waste incidents per country in the Pacific region. Waste composition includes: general garbage, plastics, old fishing gears, metals, waste oils, chemicals.
Protected areas of the Marshall Islands.
Data sourced from: IUCN and UNEP-WCMC (2018), The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) [On-line], [July 2018]. Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net.
France has an important role and extensive responsibilities in protecting the world's oceans. It is the world's third
largest maritime power with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covering 11 million km2, and has the fourth
largest area of coral reefs representing biodiversity hotspots.
According to a recent Nature Conservancy assessment, only 1% of marine areas (as against 12 % of all land
areas) are officially protected today, despite government commitments under the UN Convention on Biological
Research shows that marine reserves are one tool that can help to prevent, slow, or reverse negative changes in the ocean. Marine reserves are places in the ocean that are completely and permanently protected from uses that remove animals and plants or alter their habitats. Increasingly, the public, governmental agencies, commercial groups, and scientists are discussing the idea of establishing more marine reserves to complement existing ocean management. The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the latest scientific information about marine reserves.
The high seas lie beyond the 200 nautical mile limits that define the extent of national sovereignty by countries of the world. They cover 64% of the area of the oceans, and nearly half the surface of the planet. They are a global commons, under the stewardship of the United Nations Law of the Sea for the benefit of all nations. But human pressures on the high seas are increasing fast, and urgent action is needed to protect them from harm. Recent research shows that industrial fishing has