Then in 2005 a Greenpeace report accused the company of encouraging bottom trawling, a powerful fishing method that damages ocean ecosystems, with its purchase agreements.
She noted her organization's leading role in protecting ocean ecosystems through the establishment of marine heritage sites, which represent one-third of the world's marine protected areas.
Ocean ecosystems are beset by changes in nutrient levels due to run off near the coasts and by overfishing, which plays havoc with food webs nearly everywhere.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the acidity of ocean water has shot up by 30%, endangering ocean ecosystems and food security, and also threatening to worsen climate change effects.
Between now and April 28, watch live as scientists explore the unknown, potentially encountering shipwrecks, coral, fish, gaseous seeps, and fascinating ocean ecosystems, and prepare to witness active scientific exploration and discovery of America's underwater territory.
But much remains to be done to bring up to speed the capacities of the managers of these sites and to ensure that the wide range of ocean ecosystems is fully represented on the World Heritage List.
UNESCO: Detailview | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Would we care more if we could see the higher concentrations of carbon dioxide being absorbed into our oceans, making seawater more acidic, endangering coral reefs and marine life and threatening to fundamentally disrupt ocean ecosystems and food webs?
Oceans Day at Durban will draw high-level attention to ocean issues during the COP17 climate talks, highlighting the direct link between climate change, the health of the oceans, and human well-being, as well as the need for sufficient funding to support bold mitigation and adaptation measures that will minimize climate change impacts on coastal communities and ocean ecosystems and resources.
He gave up a six-figure salary as a marketing consultant and dedicated his life to restoring the world's ocean reef ecosystems.
In addition, a call is made to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations to include atmospheric carbon dioxide impacts on ocean chemistry and ecosystems in their deliberations.
We now know that the hot-springs that sustain these "vent" ecosystems occur in every ocean basin and are host to hundreds of previously unknown animal species.
Through its unique programmes and networks, UNESCO provides platforms to bridge the gap between policy-makers, managers and other stakeholders, along with policy-relevant, timely and reliable scientific information, data and statistics in such fields as the ocean, freshwater, biodiversity and ecosystems, science and technology.
Furthermore, ecosystems situated in the deep ocean, where biodiversity and habitats often have major value, but are generally not well understood, have virtually no protection at all.
Ocean monitoring improves the management of marine and coastal ecosystems and resources, and protects life and property on coasts and at sea.
That is no argument for human carelessness, environmentalists insist: species can adapt to almost anything over millions of years, but man's activities, such as scraping the ocean floor with nets, cause unbearably abrupt changes to ecosystems which are as delicate, complex and fragile as any Brazilian forest.
Appropriate tools and mechanism must be developed to protect ocean resources and biodiversity while sustaining livelihoods that are compatible with healthy ecosystems.
The islands are isolated volcanic outcrops in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the introduction of novel species quickly destabilises the archipelago's ecosystems.
Repairing the massive damage we have inflicted on these ecosystems is crucially important for humanity and not only the well-being of ocean creatures, argues Dr. Holm.
Raising awareness of the impact of ocean acidification on SIDS and building their capacity to respond to the challenge of impacted marine ecosystems is a top priority of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC).
Bottom trawling, which involves raking the ocean floor for food on a huge scale, leaves behind wastelands where there had been complex ecosystems.
Now companies pursuing wave and tidal energy, both of which require the installment of buoys and turbines in the ocean, are working to head off any concerns about the impact of such equipment on marine ecosystems.
FORBES: Wave Energy: The Latest Battleground in the Conservation vs. Innovation Debate
应用推荐