The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement – often known as the High Seas Treaty – came into force in January this year following almost two decades of negotiations.
Its key objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas which lie outside any single country's jurisdiction, remote areas that make up roughly two-thirds of the global ocean – areas which remain largely unexplored but hold as yet unquantified levels of valuable biodiversity and resources.
A new study published in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability says while there has been considerable research into the international policy implications of implementing the agreement, there has until now been a lack of information on how science can play its role in delivering the objectives.
To address this, a group of internationally renowned experts in marine science and policy – led by Lecturer in Marine Conservation
Dr Claire Szostek in our
School of Biological and Marine Sciences – conducted a wide-ranging review of existing science that can support the implementation of the agreement and the gaps that need to be filled.
This involved taking each of the four pillars of the agreement and exploring current knowledge surrounding them, identifying where existing technologies can be adapted or further developed, or if novel, emerging technologies are required, and how investment is needed to up-scale data collection and support capacity building in less developed nations, in order to meet the requirements of the Treaty. The authors also showcase examples of relevant science and lessons-learned on solutions.
Based on their analysis, the researchers say there are considerable challenges – ranging from the lack of basic biodiversity monitoring and long-term time series, through to understanding of processes such as connectivity between areas at large scales or depths – which they believe could presently hamper the BBNJ’s implementation from a scientific and technological perspective.
However, they say their analysis also shows how major scientific and technical developments in recent years – including greater use of marine autonomous vessels to conduct surveys and artificial intelligence to analyse data – could help address these challenges and gaps.
Using this information they have develop a solutions-based roadmap which they believe can deliver the science required to fulfil the BBNJ Agreement objectives, which they intend to assist governments and policymakers in ensuring it can be delivered as an effective and global effort to protect marine biodiversity.
Dr Szostek was until recently a Senior Scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), and the study also involved a number of other researchers from PML, The Nature Conservancy and The Natural History Museum.
Dr Claire Szostek
