Oceans and the law of the sea
A/RES/70/235
marine ecosystems through the International Guidelines for the Management of
Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas;
235. Notes the ongoing work of the International Maritime Organization to
identify and designate as Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas marine areas which are
recognized for their significance in terms of ecological, socioeconomic or scientific
criteria and are vulnerable to damage by international shipping activities; 102
236. Acknowledges the Micronesia Challenge, the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Seascape project, the Caribbean Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative, which
in particular seek to create and link domestic marine protected areas to better
facilitate ecosystem approaches, and reaffirms the need for further international
cooperation, coordination and collaboration in support of such initiatives;
237. Reiterates its support for the International Coral Reef Initiative, notes the
International Coral Reef Initiative General Meeting held in Okinawa, Japan, from 20
to 23 October 2014, and supports the elaborated programme of work of the
Convention on Biological Diversity on marine and coastal biological diversity
related to coral reefs under the Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological
Diversity;
238. Recalls that in “The future we want”, States recognized the significant
economic, social and environmental contributions of coral reefs, in particular to
islands and other coastal States, as well as the significant vulnerability of coral reefs
and mangroves to impacts, including from climate change, ocean acidification,
overfishing, destructive fishing practices and pollution, and supported international
cooperation with a view to conserving coral reef and mangrove ecosystems and
realizing their social, economic and environmental benefits, as well as facilitating
technical collaboration and voluntary information-sharing;
239. Encourages States and relevant international institutions to improve
efforts to address coral bleaching by, inter alia, improving monitoring to predict and
identify bleaching events, supporting and strengthening action taken during such
events and improving strategies to manage reefs to support their natural resilience
and enhance their ability to withstand other pressures, including ocean acidification,
and in this regard also encourages States to implement the priority actions to
achieve Aichi Biodiversity Target 10 for coral reefs and closely associated
ecosystems, adopted by the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity; 79
240. Encourages States to cooperate, directly or through competent
international bodies, in exchanging information in the event of accidents involving
vessels on coral reefs and in promoting the development of economic assessment
techniques for both restoration and non-use values of coral reef systems;
241. Emphasizes the need to mainstream sustainable coral reef management
and integrated watershed management into national development strategies, as well
as into the activities of relevant United Nations agencie s and programmes,
international financial institutions and the donor community;
242. Notes that ocean noise has potential significant adverse impacts on living
marine resources, affirms the importance of sound scientific studies in addressing
this matter, encourages further research, studies and consideration of the impacts of
_______________
102
International Maritime Organization, Assembly resolution A.982(24).
41/53