IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Within the framework of an IUCN/GEF/UNDP Southern Indian Ocean (SIO) Project, IUCN organized in Rome, on 16–17 July 2012, a Management Workshop on conservation and management measures applicable to high seas areas in the SIO. The objectives were to: (i) define the different elements of a governance plan for the region (specific objectives, actors, actions required for its implementation); and (ii) discuss ways towards achieving an operational management plan for the SIO (develop considerations for an ecosystem approach, identify options for monitoring, control and surveillance, etc.).

This document briefly presents the proposals from the Management Workshop regarding: (i) a Biodiversity Initiative; (ii) the principles, objectives and process included in the draft RoadMap  developed in support of the Initiative; (iii) the concept, advantages and potential members of the Alliance proposed to further develop the Initiative; and (iv) the Collaborative Arrangement needed to formalize the Alliance, and the key elements of the adaptive and collaborative Management Plan that the Alliance will adopt and implement.

Warner, Robin; Verlaan, Philomène; Lugten, Gail

IUCN, Global Marine and Polar Programme; UNDP; Global Environment Facility; IUCN Commission on Environmental Law; Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystems Project (ASCLME)

This publication presents a legal and institutional gap analysis of the project area, covering five seamount regions, two of which are inside proposed Benthic Protected Areas (BPAs), Atlantis Bank and Coral Seamount, and three outside BPAs. It proposes improvements to the legal and institutional framework. This type of analysis identifies global and regional legal instruments and institutional arrangements which apply to the project area and assesses any legal and governance gaps related to the conservation of biodiversity in the project area.

Simard, François; Spadone, Aurélie

IUCN, Global Marine and Polar Programme; UNDP; Global Environment Facility; IUCN Commission on Environmental Law

The individual and cumulative threats to and effects of the full range of human activities on marine ecosystems and biodiversity in general, and seamounts in particular, in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are still largely unknown. These threats and their effects must be taken into account in order to be able to develop a robust, holistic ecosystem-based management scheme. This paper compiles and examines existing and potential future threats to seamount ecosystems and biodiversity located in ABNJ of the Indian Ocean. It is also intended to serve as a template for anthropogenic threat analyses of other seamount ecosystems elsewhere.

Rogers Alex

IUCN, Global Marine and Polar Programme; UNDP; Global Environment Facility; Zoological Society of London; University of Oxford, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

Seamounts are topographic rises of the seabed with a limited extent across the summit. There is evidence that seamounts form hotspots of biological activity in the oceans. Why seamounts host abundant populations of fish and other pelagic and aquatic predators is still uncertain. This publication examines seamounts in general and specifically those in the Southern Indian Ocean, focusing on the biodiversity of these ecosystems and management of deep-sea fisheries on seamounts and surrounding high seas.

Official IUCN Statement to UNICPOLOS 11, 21 - 25 June 2010. The statement includes information on the seamounts project (page 6).  

Study by Albert Bossar, Steve Capanna, Chiara Lucchini Gilera and Johanna Von Der Weppen conducted in the frame of a practicum assignment, through a partnership between IUCN and the John Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The paper was presented at the 5th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands in Paris, in May 2010.

Briefing paper on progress made between February 2006 and November 2009 at global and regional levels on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in waters beyond national jurisdiction, prepared by Albert Bossar, Steve Capanna, Chiara Lucchini Gilera and Johanna Von Der Weppen .

This paper has been distributed at the UN Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, held in New York, 1 - 5 February 2010.

It follows a one-pager overview on progress made between February 2004 and February 2006 with respect to high seas MPAs, distributed at the same UN meeting of 13 - 17 February 2006.

Official IUCN Statement delievered at the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group of the General Assembly to study issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, held in New-York, 1 - 5 February 2010.

The statement covers the following points: 1. Importance of conserving biodiversity; 2. Strengthening the information base for marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction; 3. Capacity building; 4. Implementation of the international legal and policy framework; 5. Environmental Impact Assessments; 6. Area based management tools (Marine Protected Areas); and 7. Marine genetic resources. The seamounts project is mentioned under point 3.

Official IUCN letter to the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law as a contribution to the Secretary General's report on oceans and the law of the sea. IUCN provides information on its activities related to "capacity-building in ocean affairs and the low of the sea, including marine science". The Seamounts Project is mentioned on pages 3-4.