Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

ceived from states – up-to-date data and information have recently been provided to Malaysia, Morocco and Ecuador as these countries work to complete their submissions for extended continental shelf. As GRID-Arendal incorporates new data into the system, they can be used to update and strengthen the case for extended continental shelf. OCEANIDS The OCEANIDS web mapping tool, 13 developed by GRID- Arendal in 2010, now contains over 100 marine-related data sets, with recent maps covering topics including sea- floor geomorphology and marine litter. The system has been used to support the sustainable seas programme with maps focusing on the South China Sea and the Abid- jan Convention Regional Sea area. OCEANIDS maps have routinely featured as the ‘map of the month’ in the ma- rine newsletter. The OCEANIDS tool has also been used to support external projects, including Ecologically or Bio- logically Significant Area (EBSA) workshops for the North East Atlantic for the Oslo and Paris Conventions (OSPAR). The OSPAR commission has subsequently adopted the OCEANIDS tool to support its ongoing work programme. Development and support for the underlying technology on which the OCEANIDS tool has been built, GeoIQ, was discontinued in 2013 due to the developer being purchased by the global mapping software company ESRI. Since then GRID-Arendal has been working with ESRI to develop a migration pathway for the current GeoIQ system to the ArcGIS online system. The migration of existing users and maps will be completed in early 2014.  Support developing countries with extended continental shelf issues and the management of the deep seabed in and outside national jurisdiction Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction GEF project The Global Environment Facility (GEF) project ‘Areas Be- yond National Jurisdiction’ (ABNJ) is an FAO-UNEP ini- tiative which aims to achieve efficiency and sustainability in the use of deep-sea living resources in ABNJ, through i) improving sustainable management practices for deep- sea fisheries, ii) protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) and, iii) practicing improved area-based planning for deep sea ecosystems. The project is scheduled to start in early 2014, subject to final GEF approval.

ecuting partners for this UNEP-WCMC led component, GRID-Arendal will tap into its continental shelf and other deep-sea experience to support the project over the next 5 years. GRID-Arendal has also been invited by the FAO to partner with their iMarine data infrastructure project to develop an application using seafloor geomorphology and the iMarine data infrastructure to assess and identify VMEs in the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation Area. MFA’s past funding investment in the Shelf Pro- gramme is thereby being leveraged as co-finance for our participation.

7.2 Management of the marine environment

 Sustainable seas programme The Sustainable Seas Programme builds on the results and the experience derived from the Shelf Programme. During the past few years the focus of the Shelf Programme has been the provision of assistance to West African Coastal states for the delineation of their extended continental shelf. Scientific and technical support and capacity build- ing have been provided by GRID-Arendal in partnership with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate while political issues have been coordinated by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the West African Liaison Com- mittee. The West African Liaison Committee has been an example of the establishment of a process to ensure Afri- can ownership and cooperation with Norwegian technical and financial support. The purpose of the Shelf Programme has been conti- nental shelf boundary delineation while the focus of the Sustainable Seas Programme is management of marine resources and the environment. Ecosystem Based Man- agement forms the basis for marine monitoring, assess- ment and planning approaches in the Sustainable Seas Programme. The Sustainable Seas Programme also supports the UNEP Regional Seas Programme and the UN World Ocean As- sessment (WOA). It is working to combine the expert elici- tation method into the UN WOA process with templates and indicators that are currently being tested and further developed in the Programme. West-Africa and the Abidjan convention is selected as the geographical pilot area in the Sustainable Seas Pro- gramme. This based on the possibility of further collabo- ration in the area where GRID-Arendal has established experience through the Shelf programme, and ensuring maintenance and re-purposing of the West African Liai- son Committee.

Component 4 of the GEF project focuses on the ap- plication of spatial planning in ABNJ. As one of the ex-

13. http://www.grida.no/marine/activities.aspx?id=4476

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