Bax, N. J., Cleary, J., Donnelly, B., Dunn, D. C., Dunstan, P. K., Fuller, M., & Halpin, P. N. (2015). Results and implications of the first global effort to identify ecologically or biologically significant marine areas Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12649.
Key Findings:
- An internationally agreed body of scientific advice is already in place to support UN deliberations on conserving biodiversity in ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction.
- Between 2011 and 2014, experts from 92 countries and 79 regional or international bodies held a series of nine regional workshops to assemble data, delineate potential ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs), and score them against a set of seven criteria. The resulting 203 areas are found in all oceans and large marine ecosystems.
- These areas represent the only global, internationally recognized suite of marine sites considered to be relatively more important from a biodiversity standpoint than their surroundings.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12649/full.