The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS)is providing expert assistance to United Nations workshop into the state of the marine environment in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.

The Australian Government is hosting the workshop in Brisbane on February 25-27.

The workshop is part of the United Nations Regular Process of Global Assessment and Reporting on the State of the Marine Environment, looking at sustainable, ecosystem-based policies and measures for oceans and coasts. It will be attended by representatives of Pacific governments as well as scientists and other experts.

ANCORS has been invited to provide expert assistance to the organisation and facilitation of this important workshop. Dr Quentin Hanich, who is Fisheries Governance Program Leader at ANCORS,  is a member of the Workshop Steering Committee and will be facilitating the Food Security theme.

Dr Hanich said the significant impacts of human activities and climate change on marine environments meant that it was vital that policies and measures for oceans and coasts were supported by sound scientific assessments of ecosystem condition at national, regional and global scales.

“The Regular Process is an important mechanism that can build capacity, alongside ongoing efforts, for sustainably assessing the marine environment,” Dr Hamich said.

The workshop will bring together experts from across the region, with expected outputs to include:

  • Enhanced dialogue between marine experts within governments, intergovernmental organisations, civil groups and regional organisations;
  • Development of an inventory of environmental and socio-economic marine assessments for the Southwest Pacific, which will be catalogued and made electronically available;
  • Identifying marine assessment capacity-building needs of the Southwest Pacific and considering the means to address those needs, specifically related to data gathering, collation and maintenance;
  • Facilitating the integration of current marine ecosystem assessments in the region.