Emily Stokes is an expert in international marine protected area policy and ocean governance. She is the Marine Spatial Planning Manager at the Waitt Institute and works with partner countries to ...
IUCN WCPA High Seas Specialist Group

Overview and description
- Description:
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The High Seas Specialist Groups works on building capacity and knowledge, as well as supporting new technologies, for identifying, establishing, managing and monitoring marine protected area networks ...
Group leadership
Ms Emily STOKES
Ms Nichola CLARK
Nichola Clark is an international ocean governance expert specializing in the new Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. Nichola leads the high seas workstream as part of The Pew ...
Dr Guillermo ORTUÑO CRESPO
Dr. Guillermo Ortuño Crespo pursued his interest in applied marine conservation through a B.A. in Marine Biology, an M.Sc. in Ecosystem-based Management of Marine Systems at the University of St ...
States recently agreed on the text of a new United Nations agreement for marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Treaty language has been finalized and soon it will be ready for adoption by UN member states. A key objective of the BBNJ Agreement is to advance cooperation and coordination in the use of area-based management tools (ABMTs) including marine protected areas (MPAs) to advance conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).
Goal 1: Accelerate the scientific, technical and technological basis for advancing potential ABMT candidate sites as well as designing coherent networks, with an initial focus on individual candidates and/or regions.
Goal 2: Develop draft implementation guides and frameworks for managing High Seas ABMTs, including MPAs, building on knowledge and experience from large MPA managers and others.
Goal 3: Expand and engage the WCPA High Seas specialist group to bolster networking and collaboration.
Goal 4: Advance IUCN WCC resolution 128 on “Acting for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the ocean beyond national jurisdiction” by providing technical support including a strategy for early implementation of the BBNJ Agreement regarding MPAs and other area-based management tools.
Goal 5: Coordinate and collaborate with other IUCN WCPA specialist groups on marine connectivity, important marine mammal sites, transboundary conservation, large ocean MPAs and beyond.