Global programme of action for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities (GPA) : regional overviews on the assessment of land-based sources and activities affecting the marine, coastal and associated freshwater environment

The Global Programme of Action aims at preventing the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by facilitating the realization of the duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment. It is designed to assist States in taking actions individually or jointly within their respective policies, priorities and resources, which will lead to the prevention, reduction, control and/or elimination of the degradation of the marine environment, as well as to its recovery from the impacts of land-based activities. Most of the pollution load of the oceans, including municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes and run-off, emanates from such land-based activities and affects the most productive areas of the marine environment. The Programme of Action, including action at national level, regional cooperation and international cooperation, therefore, is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities in devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities.