North-East Atlantic: an introduction
Alan Simcock, Executive Secretary, OSPAR Commission
The North-East Atlantic region stretches from the coast
of Greenland eastward to the North Sea, and from the North
Pole southward to the Straits of Gibraltar. Its habitats
range from tidal mud flats to steep cliffs, from shallow
estuaries to the deep seabed. Its ecosystems range from
kelp forests to seagrass beds to deep cold-water coral reefs.
The sea is rich in marine life, and the air above includes
the East Atlantic Flyway, a migratory route for millions
of birds who use the coasts for feeding and nesting.
The region faces threats from pollution from the land,
shipping and offshore installations; from pressures on fish
stocks from overfishing; from coastal development; and even
from exploitation of the seabed for sand and gravel.
The grounding of the Torrey Canyon in 1967, which released
117,000 tonnes of oil with disastrous consequences for the
environment, was a pivotal point for international cooperation
to combat marine pollution in the North-East Atlantic. The
Oslo Convention was adopted in 1972 to prevent the dumping
of hazardous substances at sea, and was soon followed by
the Paris Convention (1974) dealing with land-based sources.
These were merged and modernized by the 1992 Convention
for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East
Atlantic (OSPAR Convention), which entered into force on
25 March 1998.
The new Convention included the 'precautionary principle';
the 'polluter pays principle'; best available techniques
(BAT) and best environmental practice (BEP), including clean
technology. Its Annexes deal with the prevention and elimination
of pollution from land-based sources, by dumping or incineration
and from offshore sources; and with assessment of the quality
of the marine environment. The most recent Annex (1998)
on the Protection and Conservation of Ecosystems and Biological
Diversity of the Maritime Area entitles the OSPAR Commission
to protect the marine environment of the North East Atlantic
from all kinds of human activities.
The Convention's implementing body, the OSPAR Commission,
brings together 15 countries, the European Community, and
observers from 17 intergovernmental organizations and from
30 non-governmental organizations, representing both environmental
groups and industry.
In 1998/99 the OSPAR Commission agreed five long-term
strategies: the protection and conservation of ecosystems
and biological diversity; the cessation of discharges of
hazardous substances; progressive and substantial reductions
in discharges of radioactive substances; combating eutrophication;
and controlling offshore activities. These strategies were
revised by the Second Ministerial Meeting in 2003, and will
determine the focus of our work over the next decade, during
which time OSPAR will track their implementation through
a sixth strategy for the Joint Assessment and Monitoring
Programme (JAMP).
The first joint Ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission
and the Helsinki Commission (for the Baltic region) was
held in Bremen, 2003. This was the first of its kind and
demonstrated the depth of political commitment across the
whole of Europe to protecting our seas. Three themes were
particularly stressed:
First, the need for an ecosystem approach to the management
of human activities that affect the regions. Only by looking
at the way in which the whole ecosystem may be affected
by policies and decisions can we be sure we are acting sustainably.
Secondly, the European Union’s initiative for a European
Marine Strategy and the need for a clear route-map on how
all the many authorities, national and international, should
collaborate to protect the seas. The Helsinki and OSPAR
Commissions have set out in detail what they can contribute
to a European Marine Strategy, and the Ministers have welcomed
the opportunity to work on its development and adoption.
Thirdly, the need for joint action to protect threatened
and declining species and habitats with the aim to create
by 2010 an ecologically coherent network of well managed
marine protected areas covering the North-East Atlantic
and the Baltic Sea. OSPAR has identified an initial list
of threatened and/or declining species and habitats.
But this cannot be the whole story. As the Torrey Canyon
disaster taught us more than three decades ago, we have
to expect the unexpected, and always be on the lookout for
emerging new problems. Two such new issues derive from the
need to find energy sources that do not worsen the problem
of ‘greenhouse gases’. These are the environmental
implications of offshore installations for wind- and wave-energy,
and of the sequestration in the seabed of carbon dioxide
produced by fossil fuels.
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