Identifying conservation needs in India's offshore waters

The need to protect and sustainably manage the oceans is urgent. At the Rio+20 global summit on sustainable development, which took place in June 2012, the international community pledged to redouble efforts for conservation and restoration of the seas. India now has the opportunity to show the world its own commitment to ocean protection when it hosts the 2012 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad. With dire threats facing the oceans, now is the time for India to act to meet its marine conservation commitments and show real leadership. This report examines the state of knowledge of ecological and biological aspects of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the more than two million square kilometers of ocean for which India has economic rights and environmental responsibilities. The report contains a series of maps that plot publicly available data on measures of ocean chemistry, biodiversity, human impact and more. This report therefore provides the essential information intended to stimulate a debate as to which key areas warrant protection as marine reserves and what broader management strategies are required to adequately conserve India’s valuable biodiversity and natural resources. Sound science and spatial data are necessary for the designation of protected areas and the design of oceans management. India can be thankful for its numerous institutions that collect data on fisheries management, oceanography and marine ecology. Yet there are significant gaps in their research, and institutional barriers to their collaboration exist. The data presented are only a starting point. Taken as a whole, the maps contained in this report suggest a number of important areas within the Indian EEZ that deserve attention for their biological or ecological significance: the Gulfs of Kachchh, Khambat and Mannar; Palk Bay and waters off the Sundarbans; large fishing grounds such as the Wadge Bank and small biodiverse areas such as Angria Bank; potentially unique seamount ecosystems in the Laccadive Sea; and possible migration paths of already protected marine mammals and sea turtles beyond the continental shelf. The maps also point to the need for more nuanced, spatial and temporal regulations that recognize changing biological and oceanic phenomena such as upwellings, seasonal chemical variations and large, dynamic fisheries. At the same time, more spatially explicit data are needed to understand how the populations of many marine species and ecosystems are changing. Finally, human impact on our critical ecosystems deserves serious study. As this report outlines, India has a great opportunity to make a serious commitment to protecting its wealth of biodiversity and resources before they are wiped out by unsustainable use. To do this, high-level policy makers — including those within the ministries of Environment and Forests, Agriculture and Earth Sciences, as well as the Planning Commission itself — must work in earnest to collect the science necessary to enable the effective conservation of India’s precious marine environment. With the necessary scientific information in hand, they must then consult with communities, civil society and industry to ensure that effective but equitable measures are put in place. The oceans need protecting. Across the world, ocean ecosystems are reaching tipping points and fisheries are collapsing; India has an opportunity to safeguard its oceans before it is too late. The upcoming CBD conference provides an excellent opportunity for India to make clear its intentions to commence a comprehensive process to identify and protect key areas within its own EEZ.