KINGSTON JAMAICA, 17 February 2011 – – A seminar on Prospecting, Exploration and Exploitation of Deep Seabed Mineral Resources in the Area : Challenges for the Caribbean and Opportunities for Collaborationwill be held in Kingston, Jamaica from 28-30 March 2011.
The seminar is being jointly hosted by the International Seabed Authority and the Goverment of Jamaica and will be held in Conference Room 3 of the Jamaica Conference Centre.
It will highlight the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1994 Implementation Agreement, the institutions created under the Convention; the international framework and regulation of deep seabed: the role of the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and address the current state of development of deep seabed mineral resources, with emphasis on marine mineral resources of the Area – the challenges and collaboration opportunities for the Caribbean.
Presentations will be made by experts on the process and status of the legal regimes established for recovery of these minerals, the types of minerals to be found in the Area, resource evaluation, the protection and preservation of the marine environment from prospecting, exploration and mining in the Area and the Authority’s Endowment Fund promoting and encouraging marine scientific research in the Area.
There will also be a separate session on the possible areas of collaboration to promote Marine Scientific Research amongst Caribbean States.
Similar sensitization seminars have been held in Indonesia (2007), Brazil (2008), Nigeria (2009) and Spain (2010).
In Brazil, participants developed a proposal for collaborations by the states bordering the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean for increased research on the mineral resources in this part of the Area. In Nigeria, participants recommended that the International Seabed Authority address the African Union to sensitize policymakers on marine mineral resources of the Area and encouraged all African countries to participate in the global programme to realize the benefits accruable utilizing the resources in the Area as described in UNCLOS Article 136 as the “Common Heritage of Mankind”.
A Provisional Agenda is now available online on the Seminar webpagewhich will also host a live webcast of the 3-day event.
For further information regarding the seminar please contact James A.R. McFarlane, Head of the Office of Resources and Environmental Management (OREM).