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Press
Release..............................
UNESCAP News Services
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Date 13
May 2004
Press Release No: L/24/2004; SG/SM/9302; ENV/DEV/784
Urgent need to protect, sustainably manage oceans
and seas, Secretary-General says in World Environment Day message
Following is the text of Secretary-General Kofi
Annan's message on World Environment Day, 5 June 2004:
The marine environment is facing challenges that,
if not addressed immediately and effectively, will have profound
implications for sustainable development. The theme of World
Environment Day 2004 - "Wanted! Seas and Oceans: Dead or
Alive?" -- emphasizes that society can no longer view the
world's seas as a convenient dumping ground for our waste, or
as an unlimited source of plenty.
The facts are clear. The world's seas and oceans
are becoming increasingly tainted by untreated waste water,
airborne pollution, industrial effluent and silt from inadequately
managed watersheds. Nitrogen overload from fertilizers is creating
a growing number of oxygen-starved "dead zones" in
coastal waters across the globe. Marine litter is killing up
to a million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals and turtles each
year. With more than 40 per cent of the human population already
living within 60 kilometres of a coast, and the proportion growing,
these problems are likely only to increase. Moreover, despite
the growing reach and intensity of commercial fishing operations,
total global fish catch is declining. Nearly three quarters
of world fish stocks are being harvested faster than they can
reproduce.
There is an urgent need for concerted action,
on land and sea, at the national, regional and international
levels. Mechanisms already exist, including the Global Plan
of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from
Land-based Activities, the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea, and United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization
action plans for fisheries. Nevertheless, the continuing depletion
of the world's fish stocks and the increasing degradation of
the marine environment indicate that these and other instruments,
binding or non-binding, are not being sufficiently implemented
and enforced.
Less than two years ago, at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, governments committed to time-bound
goals to end unsustainable fishing practices, restore depleted
fish stocks, establish a regular global assessment of the marine
environment, and create a representative network of marine protected
areas. This last goal, to be achieved by 2012, is particularly
important. Less than .5 per cent of marine habitats are protected
-- compared with 11.5 per cent of global land area. Yet studies
show that protecting critical marine habitats, such as warm-
and cold-water coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves, can
dramatically increase fish size and quantity, with obvious benefits
to large-scale commercial as well as local fisheries.
On this World Environment Day, I urge governments,
businesses and individuals everywhere to show renewed respect
for the seas and oceans from whence all life on earth originated.
Let us all do our utmost to ensure that the world's most prolific
natural resource is protected and sustainably managed for generations
to come.
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