Human activities occurring in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) are mainly managed through sectoral measures. Currently, there are limited mechanisms to bring the data and information required by these different sectoral management bodies together. Additionally, there are both legal and geographic gaps in the management of human activities in ABNJ. This has potential for management decisions made by one sector to adversely impact the management decisions of another sector. Therefore, cumulative impacts of human activities on vulnerable deep sea biodiversity may not be adequately captured under the current situation. One simple mechanism to help mitigate these impacts is to ensure that data used to support the management of human activities and on key environmental features are accessible to various sectoral management bodies. 

In this report, we explore potential options for storing and sharing pre-existing data collated for the South-East Pacific as part of the GEF ABNJ Deep Seas Project (‘the ABNJ Deep Seas Project’) Component 4 on area-based planning in ABNJ. This Project is jointly implemented by FAO and UN Environment, the South-East Pacific being one of Component 4’s two pilot study areas. However, the management of data is relevant across all the Components of the ABNJ Deep Seas Project.

We aim to identify both short-term (duration of the ABNJ Deep Seas Project) and long-term (post ABNJ Deep Seas Project) options for ensuring data collated as part of the pilot project in the South-East Pacific are stored centrally and shareable. It is important that there is sustainability of information collected as part of the project, ensuring it is available in the long term if needed. Any proposed data sharing option needs to align with the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS) Regional Seas Programme strategy on data management and where possible build on other regional data management initiatives. 

Tags: Pacific