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Indonesia to ratify treaty protecting marine biodiversity beyond borders
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Colorful corals compete for space to grow on a shallow reef in Wakatobi National Park in Southeast Sulawesi. (Shutterstock/File)
I
ndonesia is gearing up to ratify an international agreement pertaining to marine biodiversity outside national borders amid efforts to conserve the country’s potentially huge maritime economic resources.
"Indonesia is keen to ratify the agreement as soon as possible,” said Jodi Mahardi, chairman of Indonesia’s Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) steering committee and deputy to the coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister over the weekend. “Currently, the technical team is identifying the appropriate legal instruments of ratification."
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi signed the BBNJ agreement, dubbed a breakthrough in ocean protection after nearly two decades of negotiations among various parties.
Regulated under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the treaty is expected to provide a comprehensive framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas outside national borders.
The areas include international waters, known as high seas, and seabed and subsoil of the ocean beneath, which comprise around two-thirds of the ocean’s surface that previously remained unregulated and therefore faced severe threats from climate change, pollution, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, and mining activities.
So far 83 countries have signed the treaty. It will only come into force 120 days after at least 60 countries have ratified it, which proponents of the treaty expect to happen in June next year.
Jodi said the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister planned to consult relevant stakeholders soon to define whether the agreement will be ratified through law or regulations.
