Australia Joins Global Marine Census

CANBERRA, Australia, October 1, 2003 (ENS) - Australian scientists have officially agreed to participate in a $1 billion, 10 year global effort to assess the status of marine life worldwide, Environment Minister Dr. David Kemp announced today.

"The goal of the census is to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life in the world's oceans, and to make this information available to all," said Kemp.

Convened by the Australian Government's National Oceans Office, the first meeting of the Australian committee for the Census of Marine Life will be held in Canberra Thursday.

Whale shark in Australian waters caught on a new underwater webcam. (Photo courtesy AIMS)

"Australia is uniquely placed to contribute to the census," said Kemp. "We have strong credentials in marine science and information management, and we occupy a vast ocean territory with a high level of unique species amid the relatively unexplored Southern Hemisphere oceans.''

The census was conceived by a United States based consortium with an interest in oceanographic research and education. It is now coordinated by the census's International Steering Committee, housed in United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Hundreds of people around the world, at 100 institutions in 20 countries including Australia, are working on the Ocean Biogeographical Information System that will support the census.

"This project will enable scientists to compare what once lived in the oceans with what lives there now, and to predict what will live there in the future," Kemp said.

Australia committed itself at the World Summit on Sustainable Development last year to put the world's oceans on a sustainable basis by the year 2015, the minister said, a commitment that also was made by 185 other United Nations member nations.

Crown-of-Thorns starfish feeding on a coral colony (Photo courtesy AIMS)

The census is supported by the Sloan Foundation, a U.S. based private philanthropic fund that fosters scientific programs. The foundation has provided funding for the establishment of Australia's national steering committee.

In return, Australia would contribute information on the ocean habitats for which it had compiled geological and biological inventories, such as areas of the Torres Strait, the Great Barrier Reef, the North West Shelf and southeast continental shelf.

"Australia's involvement to the census will complement our other international commitments to sustainable development," Kemp said. "Much of the world's oceans remain a mystery and for us to fully appreciate their scale and scope, we must continue to improve our knowledge base."

The Australian steering committee for the census will oversee Australia's contribution to global programs and seek to promote local projects and funding. One of committee's first tasks will be to develop a five year strategic plan.