Protecting excessive seas off Chile’s coast relies on UN vote in New York

In worldwide waters off the coasts of Chile and Peru, the ocean teems with plant and animal species—some don’t exist anyplace else and plenty of are endangered.

Urgently looking for to stop biodiversity loss in these waters, Chile is pushing for a brand new marine protected space (MPA) to be created, and hoping to seal the deal throughout an upcoming summit at UN headquarters in New York.

With greater than 6,400 kilometers (3,970 miles) of shoreline, the South American nation already has 42 MPAs protecting some 150 million hectares or 43 % of its unique financial zone, in line with the setting ministry.

Now it’s wanting additional afield: to worldwide waters surrounding the Salas y Gomez and Nazca ridges—two seamount chains that flourish with biodiversity however are unprotected by legislation as a result of they fall exterior any nationwide jurisdiction.

Those components of the ridges that fall inside Chile’s unique financial zone or EEZ are already protected, in addition to a portion that belongs to northern neighbor Peru.

But 70 % of the ridges—two chains of greater than 110 undersea mountains shaped by volcanic activity that collectively stretch over 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles)—will not be topic to any conservation or administration measures.

It is dwelling to whales, sea turtles, corals, sponges, starfish and a myriad of fish, molluscs and different crustaceans.

“Every time we go to that area and take samples, we find new species,” Javier Sellanes, from the Center for Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Islands on the Catholic University of the North, advised AFP.

‘Unique range’

Sellanes, one in all few Chilean researchers to have studied this remote area, describes the ridges as “a kind of oasis in the middle of a marine desert.”

“Protecting that unique diversity on the planet is of high importance,” he advised AFP.

The high seas start on the border of countries’ EEZs, which beneath present worldwide legislation stretch not more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coast.

Under no state’s jurisdiction, the excessive seas cowl almost half the planet.

A 2021 examine within the tutorial journal Marine Policy stated the excessive seas areas of the Salas y Gomez and Nazca ridges are “beneath menace from a wide range of stressors, together with climate change, plastic air pollution, overfishing, and potential deep-sea mining sooner or later.”

As UN member states meet in New York subsequent week within the hopes of finalizing a long-awaited treaty on excessive seas safety, Chile has already began work on having the world across the two ridges declared an MPA.

It may change into the world’s first, however time is of the essence.

“Importantly, fishing and different commercial activities are at low ranges in international waters of this region, so there is a time-sensitive opportunity to protect its unique natural and cultural resources before they are degraded,” the Marine Policy examine stated.

New UN High Seas Treaty

According to the High Seas Alliance of NGOs, the ocean flooring on this area incorporates cobalt and different highly-prized mineral deposits which may one day be focused by deep sea mining.

“By permanently closing the area to fishing and mining and establishing a high seas MPA through a new UN High Seas Treaty, we can protect the Salas y Gomez and Nazca ridges for ourselves and for future generations,” it states in a web based report.

“While no contracts have yet been issued for exploration, neither are any of the areas officially closed to mining.”

If adopted, the excessive seas treaty will enable UN members to suggest the creation of MPAs for approval by majority vote. The doc doesn’t specify how protecting measures will probably be financed or enforced.

As a part of its marketing campaign, Chile submitted a scientific report back to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization in 2021, during which it confused that the advantages of the ocean, together with meals and local weather stabilization, “are fundamental to life on Earth.”

“The science is clear,” learn the presentation. “If the ocean is to remain sustainably productive, we must rebuild its health and urgently stop marine biodiversity loss.”

© 2023 AFP