| GPA - Global Programme of Action |
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| A commitment to ocean health from the land |
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| Estimates show that almost 50 % of the world's coasts are threatened by development-related activities. The health, well-being and, in some cases, the very survival of coastal populations depends upon the health and well-being of coastal systems such as estuaries and wetlands. The intense pressures put on the coastal systems require serious commitment and preventive action at all levels: local, national, regional and global. |
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| In response to these major problems, 108 governments and the European Commission declared their commitment to protect and preserve the marine environment from the adverse environmental impacts of land-based activities. The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities and the Washington Declaration were adopted in 1995. UNEP was tasked to lead the coordination effort and to establish a GPA Coordination Office. The comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach of the GPA also reflects the desire of Governments to strengthen the collaboration and coordination of all agencies with mandates relevant to the impact of land-based activities on the marine environment, through their participation in a global programme. |
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| The GPA is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities for devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities.
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