Australia joins global marine census

Australia will join 20 other nations in a $1 billion, 10-year, global effort to assess the status of marine life worldwide.

Plans to establish an Australian steering committee for the Census of Marine Life are being finalised at a meeting of the project's international scientific steering committee in Hobart.

"The goal of the census is to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life, and to make this information available to all," CSIRO Marine Research deputy chief and international steering committee member, Dr Ian Poiner, says. "Australia is uniquely placed to contribute to this goal, and to reap the benefits.

"We have strong credentials in marine science and information management, and we occupy a vast ocean territory with a high level of unique species amid the relatively unexplored Southern Hemisphere oceans.

"It's a rare opportunity for a united Australian marine research community to influence the direction of global research programs for our mutual benefit, and to access international opportunities."

Among the visitors to Hobart is Jesse Ausubel of the US-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a private philanthropic organisation that fosters scientific programs. Mr Ausubel is one of the founders of the census.

Mr Ausubel and other international leaders of the census are in Australia to cement Southern Hemisphere participation in the project, which began in 2000 with a $4 million investment in a system for storing, linking and accessing census information.

"In 2002, after a few years of talking, the census got in the water," Mr Ausubel says. "In 2003, we will dive to undersea mountain ranges and follow turtles across the Pacific.

"The Census of Marine Life has gone from dream to reality."

Item provided courtesy of The CSIRO