An international initiative takes conservation planning into the deep ocean to inform environmental management of deep-sea mining.

ABSTRACT1. Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) comprise most of Earth's interconnected ocean, hosting complex ecosystems that play key roles in sustaining life and providing important goods and services.2. Although ABNJ encompass nearly half the planet's surface, biological diversity found in these areas remains largely unprotected. Mounting pressures generated by the escalation of human activities in ABNJ threaten vital ecosystem services and the fragile web of life that supports them.3. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely acknowledged as an important tool for the conservation of biological diversity. Currently less than 1% of ABNJ are protected, with the vast majority of MPAs located in waters within national jurisdiction.4. The existing legal framework for protection and sustainable use of ABNJ lacks common goals, principles or standards, multi-sectoral coordination and comprehensive geographic coverage to ensure conservation or good governance grounded in science-based decision-making, transparency, accountability and effective enforcement.

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The article focuses on the ocean governance systems of the South Atlantic Ocean aiming to contribute to the on-going debate concerning the development of an international legally binding instrument (ilbi) under the un Convention on the Law of the Sea on conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj). For this purpose, a broad definition of South Atlantic Ocean has been adopted. The regional treaties and global initiatives relevant for the area are analysed in the context of discussions addressing bbnj. It also evaluated the importance of submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf concerning the region. The main conclusion is that an ilbi is needed to supplement non-existent or insufficient ocean governance systems in the region and to strengthen and foster the progress of the regional ocean’s governance framework, provided that crucial factors such as transfer of technology and capacity-building are adequately addressed.

The discovery of the 'Rainbow', a hydrothermal vent field located in the Portuguese continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, has prompted new thinking in our understanding of the law of the sea. In 2006, in the context of the OSPAR Convention, Portugal proposed the nomination of the first national marine protected area under the high seas. The subsequent acceptance of the proposal by the OSPAR Convention members makes Portugal a pioneer in the protection of marine biodiversity at an international level: first, because of the unique location of the marine protected area; second, because the nomination was accepted at a stage when the process of delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf had not been concluded. The new juridical perspectives stimulated by these facts are addressed in this article.