Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

GRID-Arendal staff also contributed 3 chapters to this scientific volume, published in 2012 by Elsevier. 42

Pacific Islands Marine Spatial Planning Information System GRID-Arendal is managing and providing technical over- sight for a large AUSAID-funded project to develop a Pa- cific Islands Marine Spatial Planning Information System (due for completion in June 2014). The effort continues a long-standing collaboration between GRID-Arendal, Geoscience Australia, SPC/SOPAC and the University of Sydney. The portal, now known as PacGeo, is a geospatial catalogue to administer and deliver marine spatial data to users. The system is built using the innovative GeoNode open source geospatial content management system, which can be easily maintained and expanded by the Pa- cific community. Pacific Marine Spatial Planning Workshop As part of the 11 th Pacific Islands Countries Maritime Boundaries Workshop held in Sydney, Australia from 25th November to 6 th December 2013 GRID-Arendal assisted with a marine spatial planning workshop for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) professionals. This workshop focussed on building regional capacity in marine spatial data analysis and communication to support marine spatial planning. Participants were in- troduced to a range of processing and analysis tech- niques using the freely available spatial analysis soft- ware Quantum GIS. The workshop was well received, with requests for further training at future Pacific Boundaries Workshops. One participant commented that “out of the four similar workshops I had attended in Sydney, the last workshop was one of the most con- structive and educational, especially in relation to GIS and spatial analysis”. 43

Participant showing one of the maps he produced during the workshop

realizing greater opportunities and benefits need to be addressed, and industry working in the ocean needs to be greened, so the ocean can play a fuller, more cen- tral, role in economies at national, regional and global scales. Green Economy in a Blue World: global report The Green Economy in a Blue World 44 report was complet- ed in 2012. 45 The report argues that the ecological health and economic productivity of marine and coastal ecosys- tems, which are currently in decline around the globe, can be boosted by shifting to a more sustainable economic paradigm that taps their natural potential - from generat- ing renewable energy and promoting eco-tourism, to sus- tainable fisheries and transport. It is viewed as a useful re- source to promote policy shifts to a more sustainable and inclusive economy, and also as a textbook for introductory courses in the field. GRID-Arendal was the lead coordinator for the report (and for the SIDS report below), working with an exten- sive team from international organizations. 46 GRID-Aren- dal also prepared the report’s marine minerals chapter and conclusions. Follow-up outreach with UNEP and 44. http://www.grida.no/publications/green-economy-blue-world/ 45. http://www.grida.no/publications/green-economy-blue-world/ 46. Partners included UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), WorldFishCenter and GRID-Arendal.

7.3 GREEN ECONOMY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

 Green Economy for a blue world Applying the Green Economy concept to the ocean presents many new opportunities which can create new jobs, achieve a higher rate of sustainable growth, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and secure sustainability obligations – all achieved through bet- ter protection and investment in habitats, marine fish- eries resources and biodiversity. However, barriers to

42. Harris, P.T. and Baker, E.K., 2012 (Editors). Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat: GeoHab Atlas of seafloor geomorphic features and benthic habitats . Elsevier, Amsterdam, 947pp. 43. Comment from Mr Malakai Vakautwale, Fiji’s Maritime Boundary Coordinating Committee

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