The UNEP Shelf Programme: Highlighting efforts in West Africa and the Pacific Islands

The UNEP Shelf Programme, coordinated by GRID-Arendal (a center collaborating with UNEP) was established in 2003 in response to Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and UN General Assembly resolution 57/141. The Programme provides scientific and technical support to developing countries to assist in making timely submissions under the Convention to establish the outer limits of their continental shelf. The deadline for most states was midnight on 12 May 2009. All states that were expected to submit, managed to meet the deadline, and almost all developing states received support from the UNEP Shelf Programme. The support ranged from comprehensive capacity building and tailor-made training, to access to data from GRID-Arendal's One Stop Data Shop (OSDS). Two case studies will be presented and discussed: In the period from 8 December 2011 to 20 June 2012, the ship 'Sea Surveyor' of Gardline Hydro carried out a regional marine acquisition program off West Africa. The acquisition program was part of a joint project between seven African states (Mauretania, Senegal, the Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone) in cooperation with the Government of Norway. The data were acquired for the purpose of delineating and documenting the outer limits of the continental shelf of the seven states in accordance with article 76 of UNCLOS. Multibeam bathymetry (40 000 km) was acquired for the identification of the base of slope (BOS) and for the detailed foot of slope (FOS) analyses. Single channel reflection seismic (36 000 km) and sub bottom profiler data (40 000 km) were acquired for the interpretation of the general geology (including basement characteristics and sediment thickness) and recent sedimentary processes, respectively, as supportive evidence in the establishment of the BOS. In two areas, multi channel reflection seismic (4 000 km) data were acquired for the purpose of detailed sediment thickness analyses. Wide-angle reflection and refraction seismic data (60 sonobuoys) were also acquired in all areas to support the seismic velocity model used for depth conversion. Work also continued with Tanzania and Madagascar. Based on requests, 10 Pacific Island states (Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Cook Islands,) have also been assisted in finalizing their work on the outer limits of the continental shelf in partnership with Geoscience Australia, SPC/SOPAC and the Commonwealth Secretariat. In addition, a few other states have received support in transforming their PIDs into full submissions and support has been given to developing states with a later deadline. Efforts with Pacific Island Countries exemplify the value of historical data in continental shelf delineation and emphasize the value of partnerships for sharing of public marine geoscientific data in support of developing countries.