We are currently working with the UK-based Stakeholder Forum to review and update this site with exciting new additions. We ask that you return back often to learn more about how you and your community can protect the marine environment.

Welcome to the Official Website of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA-Marine). The GPA-Marine is the only global intergovernmental initiative directly addressing the link between watersheds, coastal waters and the open ocean. The GPA-Marine enjoys almost universal support, with repeated calls by the General Assembly and other multilateral fora to accelerate its implementation. Increasingly the GPA-Marine is seen as a valuable tool to increase the resilience of coastal and marine environments to the pressures of climate change. The comprehensive, multi-sectoral and flexible approach of the GPA-Marine reflects the desire of Governments to strengthen collaboration and coordination at national, regional and global scales.

David Osborn, Coordinator, GPA-Marine

Waves of Change - Global Lessons to Inspire Local Action UNEP and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are co-organizers of the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference which will take place March 20-25, 2011, in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The conference, will bring together international marine debris researchers, natural resource managers, policy makers, industry representatives, and the nongovernmental community. This conference will highlight research advances, allow sharing of strategies and best practices to assess, reduce, and prevent the impacts of marine debris, and provide an opportunity for the development of specific bilateral or multi-country strategies. For more information visit www.5imdc.org

“Sick water? The central role of wastewater management in sustainable development” not only identifies the threats to human and ecological health and the consequences of inaction, but also presents opportunities, where appropriate policy and management responses over the short and longer term can trigger employment, support livelihoods, boost public and ecosystem health and contribute to more intelligent water management.” Did you know? As much as 80% of the pollution load in coastal waters and the deep oceans originates from land-based activities. This includes run-off and wastewater from farms, cities and factories, as well as the atmospheric deposition of pollutants from power generation, heavy industry, automobiles, etc. The pollutants include heavy metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), litter, radioactive waste, hydrocarbons and chemicals. These contaminants, as well as changes to naturally occurirng loads of nutrients and sediments affect the most productive areas of the marine environment, including mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, estuaries and near-shore coastal waters. Of growing concern is the impact of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the resultant acidification of the sea. Compounding these changes, the marine environment is increasingly threatened by physical alterations to the coastal zone, including the destruction of habitats vital to maintain ecosystem health and ecosystem services.

History in a Hurry: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) obliges governments to take measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from land-based sources (see particularly Articles 194 and 207). In 1995, as many as 108 governments and the European Commission declared their commitment to protect and preserve the marine environment from the adverse environmental impacts of land-based activities by adopting the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) and the Washington Declaration. UNEP was tasked with the Secretariat function and established the GPA Coordination Office. The first Intergovernmental Review  was held in Montreal in 2001 and adopted the Montreal Declaration . The second Intergovernmental Review was held in Beijing in 2006 and adopted the Beijing Declaration.