As global community commits to biodiversity protection in Cali, Colombia, deep sea ecosystems facing ongoing destruction

As global community commits to biodiversity protection in Cali, Colombia, deep sea ecosystems facing ongoing destruction

Cali, Colombia, October 31st, 2024

The latest CBD Conference of the Parties (#COP16) in Cali, Colombia, marks 20 years since the adoption of a recommendation to protect seamounts and vulnerable marine ecosystems from destructive practices at COP7. At COP16 the #Deep #Sea #Conservation #Coalition (DSCC) is urging Parties to fully and finally implement the protections needed to safeguard seamounts and the biodiversity they support from destructive practices.

In the 20 years since the recommendation of COP7, multiple international commitments have affirmed and added to that initial call to action. While progress has been made, the ambition of 2004 remains unfulfilled, and the scale and scope of human pressures on the deep sea have multiplied. Key among these pressures are continued bottom trawling of seamounts, and the threat of deep sea #mining.

Sian Owen, Executive Director of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition said: “The deep sea is home to unparalleled biodiversity, including millions of species that we are only just starting to discover and understand. However, the deep sea is experiencing an alarming rate of decline due to a range of human induced pressures.”

“Within the negotiations during the first week of COP16, some States have fought to keep reference to the deep sea in the text. As the Conference concludes this week in Cali we hope to see more States recognize the urgency of honoring the commitments they made twenty years ago to protect the biodiversity in the beating blue heart of our planet the deep sea.”

At COP16, many initiatives to fund and protect coastal coral reefs have been launch and discussed, including the Global Fund for Coral Reefs UN Fund an implementation initiative of the Global Biodiversity Framework aiming to raise an additional 150 million dollars to mobilize significant investment capital by the upcoming #UN #Ocean Conference in June 2025.

While attention at the CBD is focused on the protection and restoration of coastal coral reefs, the incredible biodiversity hosted by ecosystems of the deep sea including long lived, habitat building cold water corals is being overlooked and at the same time, irreversibly damaged.

It is understood that in early October 2024, a New Zealand vessel trawled up multiple species of corals, including deep sea, reef building corals, exceeding the weight limits for coral bycatch set by #South #Pacific Regional Fisheries Organization, the body responsible for the sustainable management of the area. The total coral bycatch is believed to be 37 kilograms, with those brought up including black corals which are amongst the oldest living organisms on Earth, with one species found in the Pacific reaching ages of 4,265 years old.

Deep sea corals can be incredibly fragile, and while many may be small in size, they are incredibly slow growing and could take centuries to recover from the impact. Corals form complex habitats in both deep and shallow waters, and destruction following trawling will not only directly impact the individual organisms that are brought up by the vessel, but also associated species.

Bronwen Golder, Global Seamounts Campaign Lead, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition said: «Fisheries companies operating in international waters continue to show the world the vital need to protect seamounts and vulnerable marine ecosystems from bottom trawling and other destructive practices as they drag precious, long lived coral from the deep sea and destroy ancient habitats.

“After two decades of international commitments, it is time for the global community to come together and urge New Zealand, and other bottom trawling countries, to fully and finally protect these precious havens of biodiversity the lifelines of our ocean.”

About the DSCC

The DSCC is made up of over 100 non government organizations, fishers organizations and law and policy institutes working together to protect vulnerable deep sea ecosystems. We aim to substantially reduce the greatest threats to life in the deep sea and to safeguard the long term health, integrity and resilience of deep sea ecosystems. More …