PERSGA Regional Coordinator of Biodiversity & MPAs Program, Component 1 Coordinator of the SEM Project, participated in the 31st International Coral Reef Initiative General Meeting which was held from in November 2nd to 4th 2016 at the Conference Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sustainable Development, Paris, France. The aim of the meeting was to strength coral reef management and policy key recommendations on enabling and enhancing use of resilience-based approaches in coral reef ecosystem management.
The action plan of the 31st ICRI General Meeting contained 5 themes: Theme 1- �Help raise awareness of how coral reefs and related ecosystems help to fight climate change, Theme 2- �Meet international requirements regarding coral reefs�; Theme 3- �Help to reduce human threats to coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses, by making greater use of regulatory tools�; Theme 4- �Monitor the state of reefs in order to better manage them� and Theme 5- �Progress via education�
The 31st ICRI General Meeting adopted the following five documents: a- Action plan of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Secretariat (2016-2018); b- Recommendation to reduce plastic microbeads pollution in marine environment; c- Recommendation designating 2018 as the third International Year of the Reef; d- Recommendation on addressing the decline in coral reef health due to global bleaching events; e- Resolution on the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN); and f- Terms of reference for the ad hoc committee on climate change. PERSGA SEM project coordinator presented a member report on PERSGA activities related to the strategic ecosystem Management project with special emphasis on expected outcomes and lessons learned from the project that meet the Aichi Targets and also a presentation on the recent PERSGA activities related to the conservation of the Coral Reef.
