Connect: GRID-Arendal Annual Report 2017

the Arctic Ocean, the subject of one of our publications in 2017.

CBD Aichi Target 11 By 2020, at least 17 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas … are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape.

To make this type of analysis accessible to a wide range of people, especially those without data analysis skills, we have created a dedicated web based application. We teamed up with computer scientists from the Italian National Research Institute and programmers from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome and created a cloud computing application that will enable any user to run this complex analysis for any county. The application is driven by a user friendly and visual interface. It is highly efficient and, in less than a minute, can analyze and report on all the features within a country’s marine jurisdiction. This is the kind of analysis that might take many hours for a trained professional to run using a powerful desktop computer. This work is having a real effect. It helps people all over the world to better understand which features are represented within their marine protected areas. It will allow them to meet the 2020 target not just of protecting 10 percent of the oceans, but the right 10 percent.

Traditional Knowledge and Arctic MPAs In the Canadian Arctic, the Inuvialuit have always hunted on the land. But it is the sea which provides the richest storehouse of food. And that’s why the creation of the Anguniaqvia Niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area in Darnley Bay is so important. Its boundaries were established based on the knowledge of the local people who have occupied this land for countless generations. The role of Indigenous Peoples in determining the boundaries is guaranteed in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, a regional land claim settlement or modern treaty, finalized in the 1980s. Anguniaqvia Niqiqyuam is home to important species on which the 300 people of the nearby community of Paulatuk rely for food. Conserving them is the primary purpose of the protected area, which is closed to development such as mineral or oil and gas exploration.

From “Traditional Knowledge protecting Canadian Arctic marine environment,” GRID-Arendal News

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