{"id":1298,"date":"2020-04-05T20:39:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T20:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oceansofbiodiversity.blogs.auckland.ac.nz\/?p=1298"},"modified":"2024-12-06T11:48:34","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T10:48:34","slug":"mapping-the-top-30-of-oceans-biodiversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.nord.no\/oceansofbiodiversity\/2020\/04\/05\/mapping-the-top-30-of-oceans-biodiversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping the top 30% of ocean’s biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The oceans top 30% for biodiversity<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The marine biodiversity research group at the University of Auckland has published a world map of where most biodiversity is<\/a> in the ocean. This is the most representative map of biodiversity to date because it considers marine life from genes to ecosystems. Prioritizing the protection of this 30% of the oceans would protect about 70% of its biodiversity. The map also indicates where monitoring of trends in species abundance would be most effective in documenting change in biodiversity.<\/p>\n

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress called for the full protection of 30% of each marine habitat globally and at least 30% of all the ocean. This map shows where these priority areas would be best located.
\nThe areas were mainly on continental coasts, island arcs, oceanic islands, the southwest Indian Ridge, the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Coral Triangle (around Indonesia and Philippines), Caribbean Sea, and the Arctic Archipelago.
\nThe project was led by former Ph.D. student Qianshuo Zhao, who previously used 20 kinds of environmental data to produce the first complete world map of marine ecosystems. Another Ph.D. student, Dinusha Jayathilake, produced the new world maps of the seagrass and kelp biomes used in the project.
\nAlthough only 30% of the ocean, the mapped areas include 94% of coral reefs and mangrove forests, and 86% of kelp forests and seagrass meadows, and 68% of species. Thus, most biodiversity is protected in the least area.
\nThe analysis found that less than 1 % of the area had been designated to be protected. Ocean protection has hardly begun. It is far off the 10% global target agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity and in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
\nMost (58%) of the 30% priority area is coastal and so countries can unilaterally protect it. The remaining 42% is on the High Seas where international agreement is needed. The countries that could contribute most are Canada, Australia, USA, Greenland, Indonesia, Russia, and New Zealand, as they have the largest prioritized areas within their EEZs.
\nAll the maps and underlying data are publicly available. These data include<\/p>\n