A. We hope that IMMAs, through the regional workshop process, will be able to serve as tools for conservation and monitoring. This will happen through the existing channels of CBD EBSAs, IUCN KBAs, as well as various national and international (high seas) MPA processes. IMMAs will be valuable for marine spatial planning (MSP) which many countries have signed up to. IMMAs will also be valuable for monitoring the health of marine mammal populations in the face of ocean acidification, overfishing and climate change. We hope that national agencies will use the tool not only for the conservation of marine mammal species, but for the habitats for which they serve as umbrella species. Thus IMMAs will be essential tools to help conserve biodiversity. With the UN deliberations on the high seas over the next few years, we hope that IMMAs will be able to step into a much wider role throughout the world ocean.