The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in partnership with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea and the National Biodiversity Institute of Korea, convened the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) regional capacity-building workshop for East, South, and South-East Asia during 05-08, September 2023, in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

The workshop had a primary focus on addressing the capacity-building needs of developing countries in the region, aligning national activities with the objectives and targets outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which was adopted by COP-15 in December 2022.

The participants included heads of the Regional Fishery Bodies (RFBs) and Regional Seas Organizations (RSOs) and representatives from the countries of this region. Dr. P. Krishnan, Director, BOBP-IGO, co-chaired the sessions.

During his presentation, Dr. Krishnan provided an overview of the current state of marine fisheries in South and Southeast Asia and the challenges related to the sustainable management of fisheries resources in the region. He highlighted the need for close coordination between RSOs and RFBs and among the member countries.

BOBP-IGO has also committed to working with the representatives from Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka to form a BOB Global Biodiversity Framework Working Group (BOB-GBF WG), which would serve as a platform for experience and knowledge sharing in mainstreaming fisheries in the NBSAPs of respective countries.