Operationalizing the Nature Futures Framework in the High Seas

The perceived remoteness and vastness of the ocean has inadvertently created a psychological and cultural barrier between people and the global ocean, particularly in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ); which accounts for >64% of the ocean and >45% of our planetary surface. After decades of commercial fisheries exploitation by a small number of nations this once untouched part of our planet and its biodiversity and ecosystems face an uncertain future.

The Mare Liberum mentality that still prevails in international waters, in conjunction with the fragmented patchwork of sectoral management bodies that frequently lack the mandate or capacity to embrace a holistic approach to managing human activities, is a dangerous cocktail that not only threatens endemic high seas biodiversity, but also hundreds of species that migrate or straddle to and from the high seas and the coastal ocean of all island and coastal states.