CBD-ICRI Side Event at COP 9
"Marine Biodiversity and the International Year of the Reef"

Celebrating International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008
26 May 2008 (Monday) - 13:15 - 14:45
Venue: Saal Bonn, Ground floor of the Hotel Maritim

The International Year of the Reef was designated by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and designed to effectively communicate with various target audiences, the value and importance of the world's coral reefs and the threats to the reefs' sustainability, and to motivate target audiences to take action to protect coral reefs.

IYOR 2008 is a year-long campaign of events and initiatives hosted by governments, individuals, corporations, schools around the world to promote conservation action and strengthen long-term constituencies for coral reef conservation. Further details can be found at http://www.iyor.org.

Chair of the Meeting:

The President of the Federated States of Micronesia, Excellency Emanuel Mori

Opening

• Dr. Ahmaed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary
• Prof. Dr. Reinhold Leinfelder /Dr. Georg Heiss, Museum für Naturkunde, Germany (IYOR coordination Germany)
• Christine Dawson, U.S. Department of State, USA
• Hon. Mr. Freddy Numberi, Minister of Marine Affaires and Fisheries, Indonesia

International Year of the Reef

• "The International Year of the Reef: Worldwide campaign for local, regional and global involvement in the protection of the reef"
  Francis Staub
  IYOR Coordinator, ICRI Secretariat
  Consultant

Status and trends of coral reefs and the impacts of climate change on the reef

• "World status and trends of coral reefs and their associated biodiversity"
  Dr. Clive Wilkinson
  Global Coordinator
  Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network

• "Cold Water Coral Reef"
  Dr. Stefan Hain
  Head, Coral Reef Unit (CRU)
  United Nations Environment Programme

National Efforts for Reef Conservation

• "Protecting Coral Reefs From the Mountains to the Sea"*
  Representative from Fiji (TBC)

Regional Efforts for Reef Conservation

• "Coral Triangle Initiative"
  HE. the Minister Freddy Numberi
  Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia
  • "Regional efforts for the conservation of coral reefs through the establishment of MPA network"
    Mr. Atsuhiro Yoshinaka, Deputy Director Biodiversity division, Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Tokyo, Japan

  Global Efforts for the Reef Conservation

  • "IOC's efforts for the monitoring and scientific assessment of marine biodiversity, including the coral reef"
    Dr. Patricio A. Bernal, Executive Secretary

  (*) This will feature the Fiji IYOR National campaign to raise awareness about the values and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and highlights the Pacific Year of the Reef

• The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)

  The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) is a unique public-private partnership that brings together governments, international organizations, scientific entities, and non-governmental organizations committed to reversing the global degradation of coral reefs and related ecosystems, such as mangrove forests and seagrass meadows, by promoting the conservation and sustainable use of these resources for future generations.

  Since its establishment in 1995, ICRI has been a driving force behind scientific, governmental and civil society efforts to protect coral reefs and related ecosystems. The ICRI approach is to provide a platform for information sharing, as well as mobilize governments and a wide range of other stakeholders in an effort to improve management practices, increase capacity and political support, and share information on the health of these fragile ecosystems. In particular, ICRI aims to catalyze action that will:

  • Improve management practices
  • Increase capacity and political support; and
  • Share information on the health of these ecosystems.

  The secretariat of ICRI is currently co-host by the governments of the U.S. and Mexico. Find out more by visiting www.icriforum.org the official website of ICRI.

• Relevant COP decision (COP decision VII/5, Annex I)

  Operational objective 2.3: To gather and assimilate information on, build capacity to mitigate the effects of, and to promote policy development, implementation strategies and actions to address: (i) the biological and socio-economic consequences of physical degradation and destruction of key marine and coastal habitats including mangrove ecosystems, tropical and cold-water coral-reef ecosystems, seamount ecosystems and seagrass ecosystems including identification and promotion of management practices, methodologies and policies to reduce and mitigate impacts upon marine and coastal biological diversity and to restore mangrove forests and rehabilitate damaged coral reef; and in particular (ii) the impacts of mangrove forest destruction, coral bleaching and related mortality on coral-reef ecosystems and the human communities which depend upon coral-reef services, including through financial and technical assistance.