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Global ocean conservation under the magnifying glass
Author(s) -
Guidetti Paolo,
Danovaro Roberto
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.2854
Subject(s) - nice , art history , art , library science , history , computer science , programming language
The oceans cover approximately two‐thirds of the surface on Earth. They are crucial for the maintenance of life on Earth, including human life. Oceans generate a significant portion of the goods and services sustaining the wellbeing of our society (e.g. producing c. 40% of the oxygen, sequestering carbon dioxide, mitigating and regulating climate and floods, providing nutrients for ocean production, and securing food resources) (UNESCO, 2017). They are also increasingly important from an economic perspective, not only for the countries that rely on tourism, fishing and other marine resources as key incomes, but also for the development of the global economy based on international trade (UNESCO, 2017). There is an increasing awareness, however, that direct and indirect human pressures and impacts (e.g. deep‐sea mining; gas and oil extractions; overexploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; destructive fishing; unsustainable aquaculture practices; marine pollution; habitat destruction; bioinvasions; noise; climate change and ocean acidification) are threatening the oceans’ life. There is the urgent need, therefore, to reduce the multitude of stresses and impacts that are degrading the oceans (see for example Halpern et al., 2010). The UN Sustainable Development Goal number 14 (SDG14), from this perspective, states that seas and oceans are a priority for the future and represent at the same time one of the main challenges and opportunities for our sustainable development. The Ocean Conference, held in NYC at the headquarters of UN from June 5 to 9 2017, was dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of seas, oceans and marine resources. About 10 000 attendees (including delegates from around 200 Member States and scientists, representatives of ONGs, public institutions, private companies) participated to the conference. The official plenary session was accompanied by more than 200 thematic and side events. All Member States declared their engagement to protect the oceans and to manage in a more sustainable and equitable way the marine