Abstract:

Aim: Marine biodiversity conservation has been an ongoing and important topic of focus at the Convention on Biological Diversity. The developmental context of issues along with changes in the conservation situation were discussed and analyzed, with the aim to identify the challenges facing marine biodiversity conservation. Based on these discussions, recommendations for future efforts will be provided.

Review Results: Based on review of scientific literature and application of international assessment processes such as the Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, we found that significant progress has been made towards field work and the strategic goals of marine biodiversity conservation. But, we also identified the ongoing main challenges for marine biodiversity conservation, namely: (1) insufficient political will and action by all parties and stakeholders, (2) insufficient identification of global marine protected areas, and low protection effectiveness, (3) insufficient sources of funds, and (4) lack of cooperation for marine biodiversity protection.

Recommendations: It is recommended to consider strengthening the formulation of protection policies concerning marine and coastal biodiversity conservation in the future; expansion of marine protected areas and increase in effectiveness of protection; strengthen resource mobilization and capacity building; and lastly, strengthen the cooperation between international organizations with improved multilateral agreements.

Key words: Convention on Biological Diversity, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, marine biodiversity conservation, marine protected areas, Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity