Critical Habitats and Biodiversity: Inventory, Thresholds and Governance

The High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy (https://oceanpanel.org/) has commissioned a series of “Blue Papers” to explore pressing challenges at the nexus of the ocean and the economy. This paper is part of a series of 16 papers to be published between November 2019 and October 2020. It addresses how multiple human impacts will impact biodiversity underpinning ecosystem services such as marine fisheries, aquaculture, coastal protection and tourism. The paper examines the distribution of marine species and critical marine habitats around the world; analyses trends in drivers, pressures, impacts and response; and establishes thresholds for protecting biodiversity hot spots, and indicators to monitor change. From this scientific base, it assesses the current legal framework and available tools for biodiversity protection, current gaps in ocean governance and management and the implications for achieving a sustainable ocean economy tailored to individual coastal states grouped by social indicators.