|
Your Excellency Commonwealth
Secretary General,
Honourable Ministers and Heads
of Delegations,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a privilege and an honour
to welcome you to the inaugural Commonwealth Ocean Ministers Meeting, here in
this legendary birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, which lies on the
adjacent beautiful coastline of Cyprus. I would like to begin by expressing
my sincere gratitude to all of you for gathering here today to share our
experiences and our progress towards our common goals and to put forward our
principles, priorities and actions to shape the future of ocean governance
within the Commonwealth. We strongly believe that Commonwealth countries can
work together, collaboratively, acknowledging “Our resilient common ocean”
and to carry forward this momentum leading towards the drafting of the
Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, a significance joint commitment towards
achieving healthy and resilient Ocean.
Throughout human history, our
survival and prosperity were connected with the fate of the oceans which are
the source of all life on Earth and supporting the richest biodiversity.
Moreover, millions of people rely directly on marine biodiversity and resources
for their livelihoods. Oceans have been a significant food source since
prehistoric times and have supported our survival and prosperity for
thousands of years through fishing, aquaculture, transport, tourism,
recreation and not only.
However, all these benefits
provided by our seas and oceans are under thread from our human activities.
Excellencies,
The Mediterranean Sea, where
Cyprus is lying, hosts a wide range of unique and diverse marine life and is
considered as one of the 25 global biodiversity recognised centres. Being a
semi-enclosed sea, the Mediterranean, home to more than 17,000 marine species,
is also characterised by the highest rate of endemism globally with 20-30% of
endemic species.
The conservation and
sustainable use of marine biodiversity underpins sustainable development in
the region and is essential to maintain healthy and productive ecosystems for
the current and future generations. Today, the Mediterranean faces multiple
challenges due to unprecedented biodiversity loss arising from overfishing,
habitat destruction, intensive urbanisation and tourism, overexploitation of
resources, maritime transport, pollution and climate change. The
Mediterranean is also particularly vulnerable to the introduction of
non-indigenous marine species, several of which are characterised as invasive
and cause significant problems for native species and habitats.
The protection of our seas and
oceans can only be achieved through global and regional cooperation. At an
international level, the Convention of Biological Diversity provides the
necessary tools for the creation of Marine Protected Areas to reach the protection
of 30% of Ocean. In parallel to this international process, there is a number
of regionally focused initiatives deriving from regional conventions or
institutions, like the European Union. For example, in the Mediterranean,
Specially Protected Areas are established under the framework of the
Barcelona Convention, while the European Aquis provides for the establishment
of a network of marine Natura 2000 protected sites.
Towards that direction, Cyprus
is implementing several actions to alter biodiversity loss and degradation
and to ensure the protection of vital ecosystems by establishment of Marine
Protected Areas (MPAs), which is very promising but challenging as well. The
sustainable management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems,
including the strengthening of their resilience, is crucial in order to avoid
significant adverse impacts and achieve healthy and productive oceans. To
this direction, we have designated marine areas under various protection
regimes including offshore MPAs, achieving about 19% of protection of our
marine waters, including our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and contributing
significantly to the 30 X 30 Target. We have set fisheries and maritime
restrictions to some MPAs, aiming to recover fish stocks and to protect
endangered emblematic species such as marine turtles (Chelonia
mydas & Caretta caretta) and Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus
monachus.
It is well known that fish
stocks in the Mediterranean have been declining for decades. 75% of
Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks, for which validated assessments are
available, are fished at biologically unsustainable levels and despite recent
efforts, the situation is not improving. Immediate measures and actions
needed to be established to alter the decline of the stocks and ensure the
sustainability of fisheries sector in the Mediterranean Sea.
Last but not least, seas and
oceans are still largely unexplored and many knowledge gaps on marine
processes and the impact of human activities on the complex marine ecosystem
should be addressed. There is a need to deepen our knowledge to provide the
scientific basis for protecting them effectively. A major challenge in the
coming years will be to improve and enrich our scientific knowledge.
Towards this challenge, Cyprus
implemented research studies on seafloor mapping, with special emphasis on
mapping of sensitive habitats, such as Posidonia meadows and other important
marine habitats in all of our coastal waters. Furthermore, a research survey
with high resolution mapping was undertaken at the deep sea, namely at the
Eratosthenes Seamount in the Cyprus EEZ, in order to identify potential presence
of sensitive habitats. All this significant acquired data is vital for our
marine biodiversity protection strategy and essential for our integrated
ecosystem-based management.
Excellencies,
I believe that our common
vision for sustainable oceans can be achieved through building of strong
commitments and solid coordinated actions for the conservation and
sustainable use of marine biodiversity and resources. Our future depends on
our ambitions, our commitments for a common vision, to set up the ground for
our first Commonwealth Ocean Declaration and to build up the roadmap from
Cyprus to Samoa for our resilient common oceans.
Thank you for your attention!
(EFys/IA/GS)
|
