IOC-XXVI/2 Annex 12

Restricted Distribution

Paris, 20 May 2011
Original: English

INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION(of UNESCO)
Twenty-sixth Session of the Assembly
UNESCO, Paris, 22 June–5 July 2011

Item 8.3 of the Provisional Agenda
REPORT ON PROGRESS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORLD ASSOCIATION
OF MARINE STATIONS (WAMS)

Summary. This document provides an overview on the current
development of WAMS (World Association of Marine Stations) anddescribes its added value for marine science as a new global framework ofcooperation. WAMS is built upon several existing marine associations andits mission and objectives match with IOC-UNESCO priorities. WAMS
wants to collaborate and liaise with IOC-UNESCO for scientific guidance
and logistic support and consider its suitability for adoption by the 26thAssembly.
The Assembly will be invited to adopt the work plan for implementing joint
IOC activities with WAMS contained in the Report on progress of theWAMS, as amended at the present session.

IOC-XXVI/2 Annex 12Introduction
1.
Carrying out excellent marine science in coastal areas and the open ocean implies the use ofmany different resources. These include marine stations and institutes, research vessels, highlysophisticated and expensive instruments (moored, autonomous, satellite stations, indoor facilities
and state of the art analytical equipment, etc.) as well as a highly specialized and competitive staff.
Bottlenecks often come however, not from the lack of resources, but from the lack of an integratedorganization. Several initiatives to create networks of marine stations/laboratories have beentested and already function well in different regions of the world. It is now very timely to begin
planning for a new forum that can unite marine research stations and institutes across the world. At
no other time in our history has it been more crucial for marine stations to come together andspeak with a united and common voice on marine research matters.

Launching of the World Association of Marine Stations (WAMS)
2.
A recent initiative of the European Network of Marine Research Institutes and Stations(MARS) was to launch with other existing marine station networks a World Association of Marine
Stations (WAMS). This world association has the potential to become a keystone in a global
network of marine stations, uniting the existing marine stations and their regional networks, andcreate opportunities for expanded collaborations all over the world.
3.
WAMS was first discussed during the 6th Okazaki Congress (Japan) in 2007 and the outline
strategy drafted. Then in 2008, a small delegation from the MARS network met withrepresentatives from UNESCO-IOC and then again in 2009 with Luis Valdes, the Head of Ocean
Sciences at UNESCO-IOC who encouraged and facilitated the first full meeting of WAMS held inParis, 13th-14th April 2010. Here, representatives from MARS, NAML, TMN and JAMBIO, as wellas others from UNESCO-IOC, UNESCO-MAB, and POGO unanimously endorsed the creation of
WAMS with this April 2010 session adopted as its inaugural meeting.
4.
Many marine research stations are located adjacent to the transition zone between inshore
and oceanic waters, and of some of them close to the deep-water horizon and abyss. All thesefeatures make them ideal centres for engaging with many of the basic problems in oceanography,
marine ecology and fundamental biology that are now receiving more and more scientific attention.
It is estimated that nearly a thousand coastal stations and institutes can be identified around theworld’s oceans, under Northern and Southern latitudes. Knowledge and databases accumulated
for decades by these stations/laboratories are considerable but, until the present initiative, theirpotential has been far too little used and exploited. Marine stations and Institutes, because of theirlocation around most of the world’s seas, should be encouraged to play an important role as
distributed observatories for the impact of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning. In addition, they can be central to the collection of data, crucial to the development oflong-standing exploratory efforts and in depth advanced studies of coastal and deep waterenvironments including: systematic, ecology and evolutionary biology from genes to ecosystems,and eco-genomics of stressed and extreme environments; biotechnology and DNA sequencing;biogeochemical cycles sensitive to anthropogenic change and so on. Finally, future in situ coastaland deep observatories could be wired directly to inland equipment located at these coastal marine
stations. Many of these ideas are already under active discussion in Europe, particularly under theauspices of the ESF Marine Board (http://www.esf.org/research-areas/marine-sciences/marineboard-policy-statements.html) but are yet to be exploited at the Global level. WAMS delivers theopportunity to achieve this.
5.
Marine stations are also of interest as land-based infrastructures for advanced studies inmolecular biology, neuroscience, developmental and evolutionary biology, and genetics and forscreening drug candidates of high medical interest. Here, the recently launched European Marine
Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC: http://www.embrc.eu/) links 14 marine stations in 8 countries,