Ocean voices: lessons from the whales for the CBD, Humpback Whales in Oceania

Abstract

The humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) of Oceania, and their story from whaling to whale watching, illustrates the changes in society’s values and a shared responsibility for their recovery. Importantly, lessons from Oceania’s humpback whales illustrate the commitment and investments needed to ensure trends of biodiversity loss are reversed in line with CBD goals; and the appropriate time scales for this to take place for such long-lived species. The sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Strategic Plan for the Convention in Decision VI/26. The Decision says “Parties commit themselves to a more effective and coherent implementation of the three objectives of the Convention, to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth."