M52

17 May 1995

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE BY THE MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SENATOR GARETH EVANS, AND THE MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, SPORT AND TERRITORIES, SENATOR JOHN FAULKNER

The 1995 International Coral Reef Workshop, which is the centrepiece of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), will take place in Dumaguete City in the Philippines from 28 May to 2 June 1995. Australia is a founding sponsor of the initiative with the US and Japan.

Coral reefs and related environments are considered the "rainforests of the ocean" because they rank among the most diverse of all natural ecosystems. Recognising the importance of preserving marine biodiversity, the ICRI seeks to provide for the sustainable management of coral reefs and related ecosystems.

The initiative involves a variety of international and regional organisations as well as individual nations. It is designed to identify and coordinate regional and global action on coral reefs including capacity building, sustainable management and research and monitoring.

The International Coral Reef Workshop, to be chaired by Australia, will develop recommendations on sustainable management of coral reefs for the 1996 meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development which will review ocean and marine issues.

The workshop outcomes will also feed into the Conferences of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the preparatory process for the UNEP Global Conference on Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution. The outcomes will also advance international awareness of coral reef ecosystems during the scientific community's proposed Year of the Reef in 1996.

It is expected that some 30 nations, together with NGOs and international and regional programs, will attend the workshop. Australia has contributed $65,000 towards the cost of the workshop to assist Pacific Island involvement and ensure regional countries secure maximum benefit from the initiative.

The ICRI is being managed by the US State Department. Australian involvement is coordinated through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in association with the Department of Environment, Sport and Territories, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and AusAid.

CANBERRA