The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), together with the Partnership for Regional Ocean Governance (PROG), launched the new Project STRONG High Seas during the UN Ocean Conference that took place in New York, USA, 5-9 June 2017. The project aims to strengthen regional ocean governance for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). This five-year project will be funded through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the BMUB with a total funding volume of 3,9 Million EUR.
Focusing on the Southeast Pacific and Southeast Atlantic regions, the STRONG High Seas project has the following objectives:
- Facilitate the development of comprehensive, cross-sectoral approaches to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in ABNJ in the two focal regions;
- Identify best practices and provide support to regional institutions and national authorities in the implementation of existing regional instruments and the development of new approaches; and
- Develop possible options for regional governance in a future international instrument under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) and transfer regional lessons learned to the global level to promote ocean governance at different scales.
The STRONG High Seas project is coordinated by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and implemented together with six partners based in Europe, South America, and Africa: the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), BirdLife International, the International Ocean Institute (IOI) – Southern Africa, the Universidad Católica del Norte (UCN), WWF Colombia, and WWF Germany.
Working with the Secretariat of the Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur (CPPS; Permanent Commission for the South Pacific) and the Secretariat of the West and Central Africa Regional Seas Programme (Abidjan Convention), this project will develop and propose targeted measures to support the coordinated development of integrated and ecosystem-based approaches for ocean governance in ABNJ within regions and in exchange between regions as well as between regions and the global level.
For more information about the STRONG High Seas project, please contact:
Mr. Sebastian Unger, Leader Ocean Governance Research, IASS: sebastian.unger@iass-potsdam.de
Dr. Carole Durussel, Co-lead STRONG High Seas project: carole.durussel@iass-potsdam.de
