NOWPAP at North Pacific Regional Workshop on EBSAs

The North Pacific Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) was convened by the Convention of Biological Diversity Secretariat in Moscow, Russia, from 25 February to 1 March 2013 in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP), the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), and the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC). NOWPAP representative and experts from its member states (Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia) attended the workshop together with participants from other countries and international organizations. The workshop was tasked to describe areas meeting the scientific criteria for EBSAs or other relevant criteria based on best available scientific information. From the NOWPAP region, Japanese experts shared their experiences in applying the scientific criteria for EBSAs in their jurisdiction and Russian experts suggested marine areas meeting EBSAs criteria within the Russian national jurisdiction, including Peter the Great Bay as well as Moneron island shelf in the NOWPAP sea area. Participants also indentified gaps and needs for future elaboration in describing EBSAs, including the need for building scientific capacity and enhancing future scientific collaboration.