Marine Biodiversity

The NOWPAP region is one of the most diverse marine areas in the world, with many different environments, ranging from icy waters in the north in winter to warmer waters and deep-sea areas reaching up to 3,000 m in depth, creating a rich ecosystem that is home to many different organisms. In order to conserve this rich biodiversity, the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10), held in Nagoya in 2010, agreed on the Aichi Targets, which stipulate that 10% of the world’s ocean areas should be designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPA) by 2020. Although countries around the world have made efforts, it seemed to be quite difficult to achieve the Targets, and further efforts were required. Under these circumstances, the Post-2020 Targets (Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework) were established in 2022, which set ambitious targets for the post-2020 period, including the conservation of 30% of important terrestrial, aquatic, and marine areas by 2030 (30 by 30). To meet this target, it is encouraged to set other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) besides MPAs to expand the over-all protected areas.

Following the adoption of the Aichi Target, CEARAC has implemented various activities on marine biodiversity including developing regional report on MPAs to collect and share useful information on how to designate MPAs in each NOWPAP member states. In recent years, CEARAC has focused on coastal ecosystem, in particular seagrass beds and tidal flats, and implemented monitoring and mapping activities of them with remote sensing techniques. Seagrass beds and tidal flats are important habitats for coastal organisms; however, the coverage of them has been decreasing by coastal development and/or worsened marine environment. By revealing historical changes of these habitats, CEARAC can contribute to the conservation of the coastal environment in the future.
The latest monitoring technique, environmental DNA is one of the special monitoring tool. CEARAC tried to share the cutting-edge techniques in Japan with the NOWPAP member states through developing manuals.

In the NOWPAP region, especially in Chinese and Korean coastal areas, tidal flats are extensively distributed. In Japan and Russia, they are also important for coastal ecosystems. Tidal flats in east Asia are used as wintering, feeding and/or nursery grounds for migratory birds living in the areas between Australia and Russia. So, these areas are designated as marine protected areas (MPAs) in some countries. However, wide areas of them have disappeared by now by coastal development.Visualization of temporal changes of tidal flats can be essential information for planning and developing conservation measures in the future. Therefore, CEARAC initiated a project to map tidal flats in the NOWPAP region in cooperation with Dr. Nicholas Murray of James Cook University in Australia, who has used satellite images to develop a global map of tidal flats for the first time in the world.
The developed map for the NOWPAP region shows the temporal change of the distribution of tidal flats from 1980s on.
Tidal Flats mapping →

Mapseagrass is a multi-institutional project involving international organizations, universities, research institutions, NGOs, and companies, aimed at understanding the transformation of seagrass habitats through nearly real-time mapping using satellite data. It also provides a mapping application that combines satellite imagery with field-based information and Google Earth Engine. For information on the observation methods for seagrass mapping and how to use the app, please see the detailed explanations on the site.
Mapseagrass →

It is estimated that 110 square kilometers of seagrass are lost annually worldwide. Moreover, the seagrass in the North Pacific region, including the NOWPAP sea area, is among the most endangered on the planet. Under the framework of NOWPAP, CEARAC collaborates with researchers from China, Japan, Korea, and Russia to understand the causes of seagrass loss in the NOWPAP sea area by sharing and publishing information on seagrass distribution.