IMCA has partnered with seabed2030.org, a pioneering programme created by the Global Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO – an IHO and UNESCO initiative) funded by the Nippon Foundation and which aims to deliver a complete seabed map by 2030. The project aims to make the map available to the public as well a unlock existing data not widely available at the moment, as well as identify data gaps which will inform future survey campaigns.
The project started in 2017, when The Nippon Foundation and General Bathymetry Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO) came together to look at how ocean mapping might support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 for conservation of the worlds oceans and marine resources, and realised that only 6% had been adequately mapped.
The absence of detailed underwater topography, or bathymetric data, obstructed efforts to manage marine resources sustainably or safeguard coastal communities, which led The Nippon Foundation to create the Seabed 2030 Project at the inaugural UN Ocean Conference in New York.
Through Seabed 2030, the two organisations have committed to building the necessary technical, scientific, and management framework to compile all available seabed mapping information into a seamless digital map of the world’s ocean floor by 2030.
The project is extending an invitation to IMCA Members who would like to contribute data to the project and help grow the seabed mapping database to 100% by 2030.