GPA NEWS UPDATES
| News - 8th December 2003 | ||
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| UN
agency issues warnings on shrinking agricultural biodiversity and
overfishing Despite its crucial importance for the survival of humanity, agricultural biodiversity is in ever-greater danger, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today. At the 32nd session of its governing conference in Rome, FAO also reported that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide appears to be increasing as fishers seek to avoid stricter rules in many places in response to shrinking catches and declining fish stocks, and efforts to combat the practice must be intensified. Read More |
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| Deep-sea
fishing needs tougher regulation European Union member states should take a stronger approach to deep-sea fishing regulation, as several species and ecosystems are becoming highly threatened by the practice, say WWF and wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Read More |
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| UN
University sets up virtual academy to improve global water management The United Nations University (UNU) announced today it has created a "virtual academy" to teach the fundamentals of water management through the Internet in a bid to improve the availability of safe water around the world. Read More |
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| UN
report warns small island developing states increasingly vulnerable Small island developing states (SIDS), which rely heavily on agriculture, forestry and fisheries exports, are increasingly threatened by a combination of fluctuating commodity prices and trade regulations and the potentially disastrous results of climate change, according to a new United Nations report released last week. Read More |
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| Australia
to increase environment protection of Great Barrier Reef Fishing would be outlawed on one-third of Australia's Great Barrier Reef in a bid to protect its fragile marine environment and the multibillion dollar tourism industry it supports, the Australian government announced last Wednesday. Read More |
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| Coalition
of scientists and international organisations call for an immediate
UN moratorium on pacific longline fishing The UN General Assembly recently approved a resolution encouraging the "banning [of] directed shark fisheries", and "action to reduce or eliminate by-catch to conserve non-target species taken incidentally in fishing operations" such as sea turtles, marine mammals and other species. While international organizations praise the UN for expressing its "concern" for these critical issues of bycatch of non-target species and sustainability, this mandate should be the impetus for an immediate effort to place a moratorium on pelagic longline, gillnet and other forms of fishing that is urgently needed to end the pending collapse of our ocean ecosystem. Read More |
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| Whales
reveal man's damaging impact on oceans Sailing the world's remotest seas in search of the awesome Sperm whale, the steel-hulled Odyssey has been dredging up some dark secrets about mankind's damaging impact on the oceans. Read More |
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| Jean-Michel
Cousteau Honored with First Ever "Ocean Hero" Award Jean-Michel Cousteau, founder of Ocean Futures Society and a world-renowned advocate for ocean protection, has received the first ever "Ocean Hero" Award from Oceana for "defending the world ocean" and "inspiring people around the globe." Read More |
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| GPA News Updates are a new, informative source of recent news and events related to the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA). GPA Outreach is a monthly newsletter with a more detailed approach. These GPA postings will useful for all stakeholders (NGOs, Business, Scientists, Students, Government officials etc) who are working on or interested in marine and freshwater policy, management and sustainability. |
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| For all general GPA enquiries contact GPA If you have any queries regarding these updates or would like to submit some news please contact Stakeholder Forum If you have been forwarded this email and would like to subscribe to these GPA postings, please email join-gpa-outreach@lists.healthdev.org to subscribe. Or if you would prefer not to receive these, email leave-gpa-outreach@lists.healthdev.org to unsubscribe. |
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| Events - Upcoming conferences and events related to GPA issues |
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| 8-12
Dec. 2003 Putrajaya, Malaysia |
East Asian Seas Congress 2003 |
| 8-13
Dec. 2003 Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia |
Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water |
| 26-30
Jan. 2004 Nassau, Bahamas |
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| 21-27
March 2004 Miami, USA |
White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Partnership Conference |
| 27-28
March 2004 Seoul, South Korea |
5th Global Civil Society Forum |
| 29-31
March 2004 Seoul, South Korea |
23rd Governing Council / Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) |
| 19-30
April 2004 New York, USA |
Commission of Sustainable Development (CSD) 12th Session |
| 11-14
May 2004 Cairns, Australia |
Global Hilltops 2 Oceans (H2O) Partnership Conference |
| 3
June - 1 July 2004 |
Summer Institute in Coastal Management |
| 28
June - 2 July 2004 Okinawa, Japan |
10th International Coral Reef Symposium |
| 21-23
July 2004 |
Climate Change and Aquatic Systems: Past, Present & Future |
| 28
August - 3 September 2004 Mauritius |
International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the BPoA |