GRID-Arendal Biennium Report 2008 - 2009

2009 • Several meetings with Marine and Coastal ecosystem Branch (MCEB) and other parts of UNEP to integrate our marine work with UNEP Programme of Work: o UNEP GC in Nairobi in February o Support for UNEP at the Global Oceans Forum in Manado Indonesia 11-15 th May o Participation in the ZERO conference 28-29 September, Gardemoen o DIVERSITAS Open Sea Conference 2 in Cape Town 14-16 October 2009 o Presentation in the Science, Technology and Reference Network (STAR) in Vanuatu from October 21 to 23 o Participation in Ocean Management Research Network (OMRN) National Conference 2009 October 22 AND 23 in Ottawa, Canada o Technical Seminar of the Environmental Commission of the International Navigation Aviation (PIANC) New Orleans 27 October to 2 November 2009 o Participated in COP 15 and the World Ocean Day on December 14 in Copenhagen • Subcontracted by UNEP to follow up the Assessment of Assessments report and describe a possible Clearing House mechanismin support of the UN Regular Process for Global Reporting on the State of the Marine Environment • Rapid Assessment report “In the Dead Water” translated to Spanish • Rapid Assessment report “Blue Carbon, the role of Healthy Oceans in binding Carbon” launched in Cape Town on October 14. http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/bluecarbon/ebook.aspx Blue carbon is already being promoted worldwide by numerous organizations and countries as an addition to rainforests in carbon sequestration and mitigation of climate change, and has already been included in various programmes and in legal documents in i.e. US Senate. ! • GEF/TWAP meeting attended in Paris in March and contributed to the preparation of the Medium Scale Project Proposal. Participated in GEF/TWAP working group meetings to develop methodology for the assessments of oceans. • GA is working with partners to develop and refine a project concept to respond to this expected output to develop a tool for on Marine Benthic Habitat mapping. This has, to date, been presented to UNEP and also to GEOHAB at their meeting in Sitka, Alaska in May 2008. Methods for phase 1 (production of geomorphology map) is under development. A further workshop to explore engagement, project organization and funding possibilities for implementation are planned for May 2009 (in conjunction with the 8th annual GEOHAB meeting in Trondheim hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway). • Geoscience Australia has pledged AUS$25,000, plus in-kind support for initial testing application of the methods. • Participated in Inception meeting (June 2009) of the Transboundary Waters Assessment Program in Denmark. Importance of assessing benthic marine systems highlighted and included as part of the assessment needs. • Geoscience Australia contributed $5,000 plus in-kind contribution to produce one layer of the geomorphology map – canyons on the seafloor. • Dr Peter Harris from Geoscience Australia visited GA in August 2009 to discuss the production of additional atlas geomorphology map layers. This work is continuing. • Benthic Atlas template completed. Fifty-four scientists committed to providing benthic habitat examples, using the template, for inclusion in the Benthic Atlas publication. Web page developed showing map location (including Google Earth version) and brief description of these benthic areas. Outline of Benthic Atlas 2009 2008

B2. Development of global tools for seafloor ecosystem mapping taking into account the evaluation of goods and services provided by marine and coastal ecosystems.

B2. Steering committee for Geomorphological Seafloor Atlas established and data contributing partners identified by the end of 2008.

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