5. (f) Provide access, as far as possible, for concerned individuals, groups and organizations to relevant information and opportunities for consultation and participation in planning and decision-making at appropriate levels. [Chapter 17, Para 5 (f)]

6. (l) Public education, awareness and information programmes; [Chapter 17, Para 6 (l)]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section A. (b)]

8. Coastal States, where necessary, should improve their capacity to collect, analyse, assess and use information for sustainable use of resources, including environmental impacts of activities affecting the coastal and marine areas. Information for management purposes should receive priority support in view of the intensity and magnitude of the changes occurring in the coastal and marine areas. To this end, it is necessary to, inter alia: [Chapter 17, Para 8]

8. (a) Develop and maintain databases for assessment and management of coastal areas and all seas and their resources; [Chapter 17, Para 8 (a)]

8. (e) Exchange information and data. [Chapter 17, Para 8 (e)]

13. States should cooperate in the development of necessary coastal systematic observation, research and information management systems. They should provide access to and transfer environmentally safe technologies and methodologies for sustainable development of coastal and marine areas to developing countries. They should also develop technologies and endogenous scientific and technological capacities. [Chapter 17, Para 13]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section B. (b)]

35. (b) Regularly exchanging information on marine degradation caused by land-based and sea-based activities and on actions to prevent, control and reduce such degradation; [Chapter 17, Para 35 (b)]

35. (d) Establishing a clearing-house on marine pollution control information, including processes and technologies to address marine pollution control and to support their transfer to developing countries and other countries with demonstrated needs; [Chapter 17, Para 35 (d)]

35. (e) Establishing a global profile and database providing information on the sources, types, amounts and effects of pollutants reaching the marine environment from land-based activities in coastal areas and sea-based sources; [Chapter 17, Para 35 (e)]

35. (f) Allocating adequate funding for capacity-building and training programmes to ensure the full participation of developing countries, in particular, in any international scheme under the organs and organizations of the United Nations system for the collection, analysis and use of data and information. [Chapter 17, Para 35 (f)]

37. (f) Establishment of a clearing-house for information on marine pollution control, including processes and technologies to address marine pollution control, and support for their transfer to developing and other countries with demonstrated needs. [Chapter 17, Para 37 (f)]

45. However, management of high seas fisheries, including the adoption, monitoring and enforcement of effective conservation measures, is inadequate in many areas and some resources are overutilized. There are problems of unregulated fishing, overcapitalization, excessive fleet size, vessel reflagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases and lack of sufficient cooperation between States. Action by States whose nationals and vessels fish on the high seas, as well as cooperation at the bilateral, subregional, regional and global levels, is essential particularly for highly migratory species and straddling stocks. Such action and cooperation should address inadequacies in fishing practices, as well as in biological knowledge, fisheries statistics and improvement of systems for handling data. Emphasis should also be on multi-species management and other approaches that take into account the relationships among species, especially in addressing depleted species, but also in identifying the potential of underutilized or unutilized populations. [Chapter 17, Para 45]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section C. (b)]

56. (a) Promote enhanced collection of data necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of the marine living resources of the high seas; [Chapter 17, Para 56 (a)]

56. (b) Exchange on a regular basis up-to-date data and information adequate for fisheries assessment; [Chapter 17, Para 56 (b)]

65. (a) Develop databases on the high seas marine living resources and fisheries; [Chapter 17, Para 65 (a)]

65. (b) Collect and correlate marine environmental data with high seas marine living resources data, including the impacts of regional and global changes brought about by natural causes and by human activities; [Chapter 17, Para 65 (b)]

68. Special support, including cooperation among States, will be needed to enhance the capacities of developing countries in the areas of data and information, scientific and technological means, and human resource development in order to participate effectively in the conservation and sustainable utilization of high seas marine living resources. [Chapter 17, Para 68]

71. Fisheries in many areas under national jurisdiction face mounting problems, including local overfishing, unauthorized incursions by foreign fleets, ecosystem degradation, overcapitalization and excessive fleet sizes, underevaluation of catch, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases, and increasing competition between artisanal and large-scale fishing, and between fishing and other types of activities. [Chapter 17, Para 71]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section D. (b)]

86. (a) Promote enhanced collection and exchange of data necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of the marine living resources under national jurisdiction; [Chapter 17, Para 86 (a)]

86. (b) Exchange on a regular basis up-to-date data and information necessary for fisheries assessment; [Chapter 17, Para 86 (b)]

92. (b) Accord special attention to mechanisms for transferring resource information and improved fishing and aquaculture technologies to fishing communities at the local level; [Chapter 17, Para 92 (b)]

95. Special support, including cooperation among States, will be needed to enhance the capacities of developing countries in the areas of data and information, scientific and technological means and human resource development in order to enable them to participate effectively in the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources under national jurisdiction. [Chapter 17, Para 95]

96. The marine environment is vulnerable and sensitive to climate and atmospheric changes. Rational use and development of coastal areas, all seas and marine resources, as well as conservation of the marine environment, requires the ability to determine the present state of these systems and to predict future conditions. The high degree of uncertainty in present information inhibits effective management and limits the ability to make predictions and assess environmental change. Systematic collection of data on marine environmental parameters will be needed to apply integrated management approaches and to predict effects of global climate change and of atmospheric phenomena, such as ozone depletion, on living marine resources and the marine environment. In order to determine the role of the oceans and all seas in driving global systems and to predict natural and human-induced changes in marine and coastal environments, the mechanisms to collect, synthesize and disseminate information from research and systematic observation activities need to be restructured and reinforced considerably. [Chapter 17, Para 96]

97. There are many uncertainties about climate change and particularly about sealevel rise. Small increases in sealevel have the potential of causing significant damage to small islands and low-lying coasts. Response strategies should be based on sound data. A long-term cooperative research commitment is needed to provide the data required for global climate models and to reduce uncertainty. Meanwhile, precautionary measures should be undertaken to diminish the risks and effects, particularly on small islands and on low-lying and coastal areas of the world. [Chapter 17, Para 97]

99. (b) Promote exchange of data and information resulting from scientific research and systematic observation and from traditional ecological knowledge and ensure its availability to policy makers and the public at the national level; [Chapter 17, Para 99 (b)]

99. (c) Cooperate with a view to the development of standard inter-calibrated procedures, measuring techniques, data storage and management capabilities for scientific research on and systematic observation of the marine environment. [Chapter 17, Para 99 (c)]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section E. (b)]

**. (b) Supporting the role of the IOC in cooperation with WMO, UNEP and other international organizations in the collection, analysis and distribution of data and information from the oceans and all seas, including as appropriate, through the Global Ocean Observing System, giving special attention to the need for IOC to develop fully the strategy for providing training and technical assistance for developing countries through its Training, Education and Mutual Assistance (TEMA) programme; [Chapter 17, Para ** (b)]

**. (c) Creating national multisectoral information bases, covering the results of research and systematic observation programmes; [Chapter 17, Para ** (c)]

**. (d) Linking these databases to existing data and information services and mechanisms, such as World Weather Watch and Earthwatch; [Chapter 17, Para ** (d)]

**. (e) Cooperating with a view to the exchange of data and information and its storage and archiving through the world and regional data centres; [Chapter 17, Para ** (e)]

**. (f) Cooperating to ensure full participation of developing countries, in particular, in any international scheme under the organs and organizations of the United Nations system for the collection, analysis and use of data and information. [Chapter 17, Para ** (f)]

**. (a) Ensure that data and information resulting from such research are freely available to the international community; [Chapter 17, Para ** (a)]

**. (b) Enhance access of the international scientific community and specialized agencies of the United Nations to such data and information, including the encouragement of periodic seminars and symposia. [Chapter 17, Para ** (b)]

**. (a) Review of existing regional and global databases; [Chapter 17, Para ** (a)]

**. (b) Mechanisms to develop comparable and compatible techniques, validate methodologies and measurements, organize regular scientific reviews, develop options for corrective measures, agree on formats for presentation and storage, and communicate the information gathered to potential users; [Chapter 17, Para ** (b)]

**. International cooperation, through relevant organizations within the United Nations system, should support countries to develop and integrate regional systematic long-term observation programmes, when applicable, into the Regional Seas Programmes in a coordinated fashion to implement, where appropriate, subregional, regional and global observing systems based on the principle of exchange of data. One aim should be the predicting of the effects of climate-related emergencies on existing coastal physical and socio-economic infrastructure. [Chapter 17, Para **]

**. To address critical uncertainties through systematic coastal and marine observations and research, coastal States should cooperate in the development of procedures that allow for comparable analysis and soundness of data. They should also cooperate on a subregional and regional basis, through existing programmes where applicable, share infrastructure and expensive and sophisticated equipment, develop quality assurance procedures and develop human resources jointly. Special attention should be given to transfer of scientific and technological knowledge and means to support States, particularly developing countries, in the development of endogenous capabilities. [Chapter 17, Para **]

**. States should use existing subregional and regional mechanisms, where applicable, to develop knowledge of the marine environment, exchange information, organize systematic observations and assessments, and make the most effective use of scientists, facilities and equipment. They should also cooperate in the promotion of endogenous research capabilities in developing countries. [Chapter 17, Para **]

**. (b) Promote effective information exchange and, where appropriate, institutional linkages between bilateral and multilateral national, regional, subregional and interregional institutions dealing with environment and development in marine and coastal areas; [Chapter 17, Para ** (b)]

**. (e) Develop a centralized system to provide for information on legislation and advice on implementation of legal agreements on marine environmental and development issues. [Chapter 17, Para ** (e)]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section F. (b)]

**. (a) Promote exchange of information on marine and coastal issues; [Chapter 17, Para ** (a)]

**. (b) Strengthen the capacity of international organizations to handle information and support the development of national, subregional and regional data and information systems, where appropriate. This could also include networks linking countries with comparable environmental problems; [Chapter 17, Para ** (b)]

**. (d) Adapt coastal area management techniques, such as planning, siting and environmental impact assessments, using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), suitable to the special characteristics of small islands, taking into account the traditional and cultural values of indigenous people of island countries; [Chapter 17, Para ** (d)]

(b) Data and information [Chapter 17, Section G. (b)]

**. Additional information on the geographic, environmental, cultural and socio-economic characteristics of islands should be compiled and assessed to assist in the planning process. Existing island databases should be expanded and geographic information systems developed and adapted to suit the special characteristics of islands. [Chapter 17, Para **]

**. Small island developing States, with the support, as appropriate, of international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, should develop and strengthen inter-island, regional and interregional cooperation and information exchange, including periodic regional and global meetings on sustainable development of small island developing States with the first global conference on the sustainable development of small island developing States, to be held in 1993. [Chapter 17, Para **]

**. Centres for the development and diffusion of scientific information and advice on technical means and technologies appropriate to small island developing States, especially with reference to the management of the coastal zone, the exclusive economic zone and marine resources, should be established or strengthened, as appropriate, on a regional basis. [Chapter 17, Para **]