NCSE Recommendations for a National Marine Biodiversity Observing Network

The National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) coordinated a breakout session at the National Council for Science and Environment (NCSE) 11^th National Conference on January 20^th, 2011. The conference theme was Our Changing Oceans and the NOPP session focused on Attaining an Operational Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (BON): Transforming Recommendations to Action. The recommendations generated from the breakout session focused on the following steps  to implement a national marine BON:

• Task 1.  Given marine biodiversity’s central role in ocean health and ecosystem services, the National Ocean Council (NOC) should establish a national committee on marine biodiversity to set national goals and objectives.
• Task 2.  The National Ocean Council (NOC) should endorse and implement a national marine biodiversity observing network (BON) to support the national ocean priorities (see Attaining an Operational Marine Biodiversity Observation Network Synthesis Report, final report available February 2011 at www.nopp.org).
• Task 3. Federal agencies should support demonstration projects for a national marine BON, through an interagency mechanism such as the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP).
• Task 4. Entities overseeing ocean observing systems such as the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) should incorporate biodiversity observations.
• Task 5. Federal agencies with ocean-related missions should support the principle of data sharing. An early priority in establishing a marine BON is to establish a mechanism to encourage data sharing among agencies and to establish standardized data policies.  Data standards, interoperability and accessibility for physical and chemical data are well established; the same level of standards, interoperability and accessibility should be established for biodiversity observations, enabling their incorporation in global climate change analysis and modeling.
• Task 6. Congress should appropriate funding for the Smithsonian Institution to establish a national biodiversity sorting and processing headquarters.
• Task 7. The State Department should support the establishment of an operational marine biodiversity observing network (BON) and coordinate with similar international efforts, and ensure incorporation in the International Mechanism of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity (IMoSEB) and Global Earth Observing BON (GEO BON).
• Task 8. The National Ocean Council (NOC) should utilize communication and outreach tools such as citizen scientists to increase biodiversity observations and to elevate public awareness of the importance of marine biodiversity

There were a total of twenty-four breakout sessions, with topics ranging from ocean acidification to governance in the Arctic. The recommendations from these sessions will be delivered to the relevant entities, whether it is the Obama Administration, Congress or federal agencies. The NCSE is focused on these recommendations achieving impact in the 12-16 months following the conference before the 2012 election cycle closes. Several of the eight conference themes are directly related to priority objectives for planning by the newly established National Ocean Council.