Welcome to the CBD EBSA Repository

Pursuant to the request of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (decision X/29, paragraph 39), this prototype repository was developed by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) to support the collection and compilation of scientific and technical information and experience related to the application of the scientific criteria on the identification of ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs) (annex I of decision IX/20), as well as other relevant compatible and complementary nationally and intergovernmentally agreed scientific criteria.

This work has been conducted with financial support from the Government of Germany, in consultation and collaboration with Parties, other Governments and relevant organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in particular the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), International Seabed Authority (ISA), and other competent organizations, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC) and the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI).

This prototype will be enhanced by the experience to be gained through a series of regional workshops to facilitate the description of ESBAs, as called for by the Conference of the Parties in the same decision, and will be further updated to provide a mechanism for sharing information with similar initiatives, such as FAO’s work on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs).