The World Assembly,
Cognizant of the rich biodiversity that resides within reefs and related ecosystems,
Believing that the efforts to preserve and restore such biodiversity falls firmly within the World Assembly's jurisdiction, and indeed duty in order to create a more beautiful world,
Lauding previous efforts from member nations to preserve these unique environments, and hoping to bolster these previous protections with further international regulations and requirements,
Hereby,
- Requires all member nations to designate reefs as protected marine ecosystems, and prohibits fishing, anchoring, diving, and other related activities that is reliant on the exploitation of the habitat and the biodiversity thereof, unless those activities are noninvasive to the point of minimal ecological impact without compromising the integrity of the reef structure, habitat, or biodiversity;
- Requires all member nations to regularly monitor the health of the reefs within their territories, including information concerning the biodiversity of the habitat, condition of the reef structure, and local and surrounding water quality, among other relevant factors;
- Forbids agricultural runoff, sewage discharge, plastic waste, and other pollutants harmful to reef ecosystem from being discharged into reefs or the waters surrounding reefs, except in cases where (a) the environmental impact of such pollutant discharge would be so minimized such that there are no discernible consequences, or (b) the economic impact would negatively impact the surrounding communities to such an extent that it would be difficult to otherwise recover, and the environmental impact is minimized to the greatest extent possible before incurring this economic impact;
- For reefs that fall under the jurisdictions of multiple nations, requires any World Assembly nations involved to attempt to cooperate in good-faith to protect the reefs in all nations in which it falls under, and find mutual regulations to promote the preservation of said reefs;
- Requires nations to promote the restoration of damaged reefs or sections of reefs within their jurisdiction, through actions such as:
- Funding or incentivizing the repair of previously damaged reefs, via proven techniques including coral gardening, micro-fragmentation, assisted evolution, and other techniques as deemed relevant or as discovered;
- Actively researching and developing new methods to restore reefs and make them more resilient to harmful conditions;
- Propagating coral species that are more resilient to bleaching and other stressors;
- Sharing innovations in the area of reef restoration with other member nations, for them to put towards the provisions put forward in this resolution and other further restrictions surrounding reef health;
- Funding or incentivizing reef construction in the same or new locations to replace previously destroyed reefs of similar composition and ecological value;
- Encourages collaboration with local communities surrounding reef ecosystems, bringing them into the fold in specific decisions and policies related to reef preservation and restoration;
- Requires for member nations to submit biennial reports on the status of reef health, as well as status of current preservation and restoration efforts to the Waterbody Health and Mitigation Management Organization, who shall evaluate these reports, give suggestions where necessary and, in the case of inconsistency, trigger an investigation and take appropriate legal action through the proper avenues as set out by the World Assembly.
- Requires member nations to impose trade sanctions on any non-member nation whose actions, whether or not they would violate this resolution if that nation were in the World Assembly, would pollute a member nation to the point of bringing them into violation of this resolution, and these trade sanctions much have sufficient economic force to (a) have the target discontinue or minimize the relevant actions such that the pollution they are causing in the member-nation returns to legal levels, or (b) create proper punitive measures for the actions taken.
The beautiful Goraumo Reef sits within the coastal waters of Bisofeyr, and we frequently marvel in the beauty it presents. As we have begun sending delegations to other nations across the world, we have become dismayed at the inability for others to revel in these environmental bastions as we have, and hope this proposed legislation ought to increase the health of reefs around the world. We invite feedback openly.
