The Jakarta Mandate - Convention on Biological Diversity

Why marine and coastal biologicaldiversity is importantIt all started in the sea; the vast world ocean isthe origin of life on Earth. Moreover, to thisday, ‘new’ and sometimes apparently impossiblelife forms are discovered in the sea. Only,they are neither new nor impossible. <strong>The</strong>y justare, and they reflect the amazing diversity oflife on this blue planet. If anything, they demonstrateour still rather big lack of knowledgeof the ocean and the scope of its life.To date, an estimated 1.7 million specieshave been identified, but the exact number ofthe existing species is still unknown. Estimatesvary from a low of 5 million to a high of 100million. Seas cover over 70 per cent of the surfaceof Earth, but only about 15 per cent –some 250,000 – of the total number of knownplant and animal species are found there. Speciesliving on land, or in the ocean and thecoastal zone, are unique, have unique roles,and provide unique resources and services.Marine and coastal habitats cannot take theplace of forests or grasslands. Consequently,conservation and sustainable use of marineand coastal living organisms is just as crucialas conservation and use of species in a forestHumpback whales, majestic marine giants.or another terrestrialenvironment.Struggle tosurvide<strong>The</strong> seas harbourall fromthe very smallestto the very largestof organisms;from single-cellalgae to60 metres longkelp plants;from microscopiczooplanktonto giant whales.Animals andplants living in Micro algae (diatoms), the marinemicrocosm and basis for marine life.the sea areamazingly adapted for surviving in their particularunderwater environment. That environmentcould be a warm tropical sea, theconstant coldness of the Polar regions, or thevariations of a northernbrackish-water sea or an estuaryanywhere in the world.It could be the depth of theocean abysses or the nearshoreshallows of a tidal sea.It could be the relatively barrenopen ocean or nutrientrichcoastal strips. Life isfound at depths of over11,000 metres and in thevery surface of the water inareas close to land. Actually,almost 60 per cent of theEarth’s surface are seabed1~