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 The world’s coastal ocean waters continue to be degraded by unsustainable fishing practices, habitat degradation, eutrophication, toxic pollution, aerosol contamination, and emerging diseases. Against this background is a growing recognition among world leaders that positive actions are required on the part of governments and civil society to redress global environmental and resource degradation with actions to recover depleted fish populations, restore degraded habitats and reduce coastal pollution.
No single international organization has been empowered to monitor and assess the changing states of coastal ecosystems on a global scale, and to reconcile the needs of individual nations to those of the community of nations for taking appropriate mitigation and management actions.
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Global Applications of the LME Concept |
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 The Large Marine Ecosystem(LME)concept was selected as one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) notable breakthroughs to be commemorated during the 2007 celebration of NOAA’s 200 years of ocean sciences. In accordance with the US Ocean Action Plan (USOAP 2004), the LME concept for ecosystembased management and its five module approach (productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution and ecosystem health, socioeconomics, and governance) are being applied to 16 international projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
These LME projects are funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank, participating countries, and other donors at a level of US$1.8 billion. NOAA is providing technical and scientific support to the projects through close coordination with 5 United Nations (UN) agencies, 2 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the ministries of fisheries and the environment of 110 countries supporting the hands-on participation of 2,500 experts and partners.
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A Message From the Executive Director of UNEP |
The world’s 64 Large Marine Ecosystems are as much economic as they are environmental assets contributing around 12 trillion dollars annually to the global economy.
Increasingly the management of these assets is beginning to reflect that importance. Combined efforts among coastal countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe are now contributing to assessment and management actions aimed at tackling coastal pollution, restoration of degraded habitats, and recovery of depleted fish stocks.
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A Message from the Chief Executive Officer, GEF |
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 We live on the land yet we often forget the sea. We forget that 70% of our planet is made up of coastal and marine ecosystems and that our coastal economies depend on these ecosystems to generate sustainable communities.
Many do not know that more than half of the carbon sequestered on the planet is attributed to marine ecosystems; our planet’s temperature is regulated by the oceans. We take them for granted as we do the fact that international trade in coastal and marine fisheries is a $70 billion a year business that drives coastal economies.
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