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ceived from states – up-to-date data and information have
recently been provided to Malaysia, Morocco and Ecuador
as these countries work to complete their submissions for
extended continental shelf. As GRID-Arendal incorporates
new data into the system, they can be used to update and
strengthen the case for extended continental shelf.
OCEANIDS
The OCEANIDS web mapping tool,13 developed by GRID-
Arendal in 2010, now contains over 100 marine-related
data sets, with recent maps covering topics including sea-
floor geomorphology and marine litter. The system has
been used to support the sustainable seas programme
with maps focusing on the South China Sea and the Abid-
jan Convention Regional Sea area. OCEANIDS maps have
routinely featured as the ‘map of the month’ in the ma-
rine newsletter. The OCEANIDS tool has also been used
to support external projects, including Ecologically or Bio-
logically Significant Area (EBSA) workshops for the North
East Atlantic for the Oslo and Paris Conventions (OSPAR).
The OSPAR commission has subsequently adopted the
OCEANIDS tool to support its ongoing work programme.
Development and support for the underlying technology
on which the OCEANIDS tool has been built, GeoIQ, was
discontinued in 2013 due to the developer being purchased
by the global mapping software company ESRI. Since then
GRID-Arendal has been working with ESRI to develop a
migration pathway for the current GeoIQ system to the
ArcGIS online system. The migration of existing users and
maps will be completed in early 2014.
 Support developing countries with
extended continental shelf issues and
the management of the deep seabed in
and outside national jurisdiction
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction GEF project
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) project ‘Areas Be-
yond National Jurisdiction’ (ABNJ) is an FAO-UNEP ini-
tiative which aims to achieve efficiency and sustainability
in the use of deep-sea living resources in ABNJ, through
i) improving sustainable management practices for deep-
sea fisheries, ii) protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems
(VMEs) and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas
(EBSAs) and, iii) practicing improved area-based planning
for deep sea ecosystems. The project is scheduled to start
in early 2014, subject to final GEF approval.
Component 4 of the GEF project focuses on the ap-
plication of spatial planning in ABNJ. As one of the ex-
13.
ecuting partners for this UNEP-WCMC led component,
GRID-Arendal will tap into its continental shelf and other
deep-sea experience to support the project over the next
5 years. GRID-Arendal has also been invited by the FAO
to partner with their iMarine data infrastructure project
to develop an application using seafloor geomorphology
and the iMarine data infrastructure to assess and identify
VMEs in the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation
Area. MFA’s past funding investment in the Shelf Pro-
gramme is thereby being leveraged as co-finance for our
participation.
7.2 Management of the marine
environment
 Sustainable seas programme
The Sustainable Seas Programme builds on the results and
the experience derived from the Shelf Programme. During
the past few years the focus of the Shelf Programme has
been the provision of assistance to West African Coastal
states for the delineation of their extended continental
shelf. Scientific and technical support and capacity build-
ing have been provided by GRID-Arendal in partnership
with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate while political
issues have been coordinated by the Norwegian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs through the West African Liaison Com-
mittee. The West African Liaison Committee has been an
example of the establishment of a process to ensure Afri-
can ownership and cooperation with Norwegian technical
and financial support.
The purpose of the Shelf Programme has been conti-
nental shelf boundary delineation while the focus of the
Sustainable Seas Programme is management of marine
resources and the environment. Ecosystem Based Man-
agement forms the basis for marine monitoring, assess-
ment and planning approaches in the Sustainable Seas
Programme.
The Sustainable Seas Programme also supports the UNEP
Regional Seas Programme and the UN World Ocean As-
sessment (WOA). It is working to combine the expert elici-
tation method into the UN WOA process with templates
and indicators that are currently being tested and further
developed in the Programme.
West-Africa and the Abidjan convention is selected as
the geographical pilot area in the Sustainable Seas Pro-
gramme. This based on the possibility of further collabo-
ration in the area where GRID-Arendal has established
experience through the Shelf programme, and ensuring
maintenance and re-purposing of the West African Liai-
son Committee.