30 new IMMAs identified in the eastern Indian Ocean

Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara and Erich Hoyt, co-chairs of the IUCN SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force have announced final results from the Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) Workshop in the North East Indian Ocean and South East Asian Seas which was held in March 2018 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Borneo).

The approved IMMAs — as well as those that will remain as candidate IMMAs and areas of interest (AoI) — are now displayed on an interactive map, the IMMA e-atlas, at https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/imma-eatlas/.

The final report of the workshop is now available for download at https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/resources/documents/. There is also a posted news item summarizing the results and giving background on the IMMA programme at https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/30-new-immas-awarded-in-the-ne-indian-ocean-and-se-asian-seas/.

Meanwhile, the Task Force is shortly entering the review period for the Extended Southern Ocean IMMA process, and in early March will host the IMMA workshop for the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Seas, in Oman.