On November 19th, the STRONG High Seas project held a online seminar on “Marine Genetic Resources: Building Capacities for Ocean Governance”.
Around 60 global participants attended the online seminar, which began with two presentations from:
- Dr. Judith Gobin, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Life Sciences, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
- Prof. Marcel Jaspars, Professor in Chemistry at the Marine Biodiversity Centre, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Afterwards two discussants reacted to the presentations:
- Dr. Harriet-Harden Davies, NEREUS Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia
- Kristina Gjerde, Senior High Seas Advisor to the IUCN Global Marine and Polar Program
A recording of the online seminar can be accessed here.
Marine genetic resources (MGRs) are one of the four main elements under discussion during the negotiations for a new high seas treaty, which have been taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York since 2018. During this webinar, Dr. Gobin spoke about the importance of strengthening marine science and building capacity for the deep sea, while Prof. Jaspars gave a deeper insight into the topic of Marine Genetic Resource, shedding light on the complex road from sampling to commercialisation. Afterwards the discussants and audience members had the opportunity to share their thoughts and ask questions.
This online seminar builds on a workshop titled ‘Building Capacities for Regional Ocean Governance: Marine Genetic Resources and Area-based Management Tools’, which the STRONG High Seas project co-hosted along the sidelines of the last round of negotiations in August 2019. It thus offers an opportunity to interested participants who were not able to attend the workshop in New York to learn more about the topic of marine genetic resources in the context of the global negotiations.
It is part of a series of events organised by the STRONG High Seas project and dealing with topics around the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including BBNJ negotiations. An earlier online seminar has been held in August 2018 on the topic of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. For more information about the upcoming events, see our calendar.