WoRMS endorsed as a Project Action under the Ocean Decade

Last week, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (‘Ocean Decade’), has endorsed 94 new Decade Actions across all ocean basins, all of them contributing in some way to the central vision of “the science we need for the ocean we want”.

Earlier this year, the Steering Committee and the Data Management Team of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) had submitted a proposal under the first call for Actions, entitled 'Above and Beyond – Completing the World Register of Marine Species (ABC WoRMS)'. Recently, the news was received that WoRMS has received endorsement by the Ocean Decade, together with 93 other actions.

Each of the selected actions build on the global momentum for ocean knowledge-based solutions ahead of major upcoming global summits on climate and biodiversity. In total, there are now 335 endorsed Decade Actions, all contributing to the collaborative design of the science we need to deliver a healthy and resilient ocean by 2030.

As an Ocean Decade Project, WoRMS is being linked to the earlier endorsed Action Programme Marine Life 2030: A Global Integrated Marine Biodiversity Information Management and Forecasting System for Sustainable Development and Conservation. The Data Management Team has recently initiated conversation with the coordinators of the Marine Life 2030 Programme, to discuss the most optimal ways to connect WoRMS to their goals.

During the full span of the Ocean Decade, WoRMS will continue its endeavors to be able to provide a full taxonomic overview of all marine life, thereby not only supporting scientists, but also everyone who makes use of species names, including policy, industry and the public at large.

Although WoRMS is already fairly complete, taxonomic gaps still need to be addressed, in both space and time. New challenges in the field of taxonomy – such as temporary names – need to be explored, thereby looking for the best suitable solution for all WoRMS users. 

The documentation of species traits which are of critical importance for ecological marine research will be encouraged, as will there be increased efforts to link with other global databases, infrastructures and initiatives such as LifeWatch, LifeWatch Species Information Backbone, OBIS, GOOS, COL, BoLD & GenBank.