SCELG to lead a new Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Fisheries project
Collaborations between SCELG and the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) Programme
June 2017: The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme has established a working group on Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Fisheries to investigate the role of ecosystem services in sustainable fisheries management, as well as the contribution of the fisheries sector to poverty alleviation and wellbeing of the poor in developing countries. Prof Elisa Morgera and Dr Daniela Diz of the Marine Benefits project, were selected to support the new ESPA Fisheries working group by synthesising and communicating evidence from ESPA fisheries-related projects to key international organisations and processes, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and at the UN Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (the Ocean Conference).
Marine Benefits Project
This new collaboration with the ESPA Directorate and other ESPA researchers builds on the Marine Benefits project, led by Prof Morgera, which explores whether and how the legal tool "fair and equitable benefit-sharing," as part of the ecosystem approach, can be integrated with the concept of marine ecosystem services to reduce the systemic poverty of coastal communities who depend upon marine resources for both food security and income generation. The project will focus specifically on how research on marine ecosystem services can support ongoing international efforts to implement the ecosystem approach to fisheries and to mainstream biodiversity into the fisheries sector.
As part of this new collaboration, Prof Morgera and Dr Diz, together with the ESPA Director Kate Schreckenberg, will visit the FAO Headquarters on 26 June and discuss collaboration in addressing the implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries and mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services into the fisheries sector.
Research-Led Teaching
Prof Morgera and Dr Diz are the Co-Directors of the LLM in Law of the Sea, Sustainable Development and International Law
