CL 40/2017

IHO File No. S1/5015 & S3/2620 CIRCULAR LETTER 40/2017 13 June 2017 NIPPON FOUNDATION FUNDING FOR PROJECT SEABED 2030 References: A. IHO CL 39/2017 dated 13 June 2017 - Outcome of UN Ocean Conference. B. IHO CL 34/2016 dated 21 July - Recent developments related to the IHO-IOC GEBCO Project. Dear Hydrographer, 1. I am pleased to report that at the recent High-Level UN Ocean Conference, held at the UNHQ in New York (see Reference A), Mr Yohei Sasakawa, on behalf of the Nippon Foundation, announced that the Nippon Foundation is planning to increase its involvement with the IHO-IOC GEBCO programme by contributing US$18.5M over ten years to support the specific goal of comprehensively mapping all of the seafloor by 2030. 2. This initiative, to be known as Project Seabed 2030, is an outcome of the GEBCO Forum for Future Ocean Floor Mapping held in June 2016 (see Reference B). The aim is for Seabed 2030 to compile all available and newly collected bathymetric data into a high quality, high resolution digital model of the ocean floor and to promote international efforts to collect new data. 3. The work will be done through the establishment of four Regional Data Assembly and Coordination Centres (RDACCs) and a Global Data Assembly and Coordination Centre (GDACC) based at the British Oceanographic Data Centre, National Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom. The RDACCs will be based at: the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany, covering the Southern Ocean; the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand, covering the South and West Pacific Ocean; the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA, covering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; and Stockholm University, Sweden, for the North Pacific and Arctic Ocean. The intention is to build upon the infrastructure and capabilities of existing GEBCO and IHO activities including the regional mapping programmes and the IHO Data Centre for Digital Bathymetry (IHO DCDB). 4. Seabed 2030 will assist in bringing collected depth data together, will highlight the unmapped gaps, and help coordinate seabed mapping by working with the established ocean mapping community within academia, offshore industry and government. A particular initiative will be to work with the fishing industry to increase the amount of data from fishing vessels that operate worldwide as well as from recreational and merchant vessels. Liaison with industry is planned through the World Ocean Council, which is a recognised observer organisation to the IHO. Seabed 2030 will also be coordinated with the on-going IHO Crowd Sourced Bathymetry initiative. 5. As is currently the case, the dedicated funding for Seabed 2030 will be managed by the Secretariat, as part of its existing role as the treasurer and the secretary to the GEBCO project. Yours sincerely, Robert WARD Secretary-General Mapping our Seas, Oceans and Waterways - more important than ever Dear Hydrographer, Please find attached herewith : CL 40/2017 : NIPPON FOUNDATION FUNDING FOR PROJECT SEABED 2030 Yours sincerely, IHO M.MOLLET