Call for Papers for a Special Issue on Oceans

Deadline for submission: 31 December 2013

Oceans are the primary regulator of the global climate and are contributing to poverty eradication, sustained economic growth, food security, creation of sustainable livelihoods and decent work. They are a critical source of livelihoods and an important element of identity for the people of many countries, including small island developing States. In order to promote understanding and global awareness of critical Oceans issues and to contribute to intergovernmental discussions on the thematic issue of oceans and its various aspects within the sustainable development context, Natural Resources Forum, a United Nations Sustainable Development Journal calls for papers for a Special Issue on Oceans to be published in 2014.

Articles submitted for this special issue should be relevant to policymaking and focus on applied research and/or case studies. The editorial team will give priority to articles that adopt a sustainable development perspective, i.e. one that considers multiple dimensions (e.g., economic, social, environmental, intergenerational) of problems in an integrated way. Topics of interest include:

• Conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and seas and of their resources. Application of an ecosystem approach and the precautionary approach in the management of activities having an impact on the marine environment; case studies on restoring fish stocks; science-based management plans, including reduction or suspension of fishing catch and fishing effort; management of by-catch, discards and other adverse ecosystem impacts from fisheries, including attempts to eliminate destructive fishing practices; attempts to eliminate, prevent and combat IUU fishing and to eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing and overcapacity; area-based conservation measures, including marine protected areas;
• Reducing the incidence and impacts of marine pollution, including marine debris, especially plastic, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals and nitrogen-based compounds, from a number of marine and land-based sources; resulting best practices for taking action to achieve, based on collected scientific data, significant reductions in marine debris to prevent harm to coastal and marine environment;
• Prevention of the introduction of alien invasive species and management of their adverse environmental impacts;
• Ocean acidification and the impacts of climate change. Case studies and/or policy measures that seek to: accelerate the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions; prevent further ocean acidification; adapt to climate change; enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems and coastal communities; reduce disaster risk and build resilience to natural disasters.

Articles should contain original material and should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words in length.

Contributions to the journal are accepted at the NRF manuscript submission site here.

Author guidelines may be consulted here.

Questions and comments may be addressed to: NRFORUM@un.org