September 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Ocean Network Canada and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Members of the media are invited to OceanObs’19 for the presentation of the Aha Honua Coastal Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration to the Executive Secretary of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

A group of international Indigenous delegates-coordinated by Ocean Networks Canada and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council-will present the declaration, which calls on the global ocean observing community to formally recognize the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples worldwide as well as the articles within the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The declaration also calls on the ocean observing community to establish meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities, organizations and Nations to learn and respect each other’s ways of knowing; negotiate paths forward to design, develop and carry out ocean observing initiatives; and share responsibility and resources.

Indigenous peoples continue to perpetuate their cultures and governance systems as they have done for generations. Ancestral, cultural and spiritual connections to natural resources maintain theirinherent governance systems as well as establish the foundation for principles of sustainability. The existence of Indigenous peoples comes from all life and therefore, as first stewards, they have a responsibility to oceans and shoreline ecosystems.

What: Aha Honua Coastal Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration at OceanObs’19
When: Friday, Sept. 20, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Where: Kalakaua Ballroom (Level 4), Hawai’i Convention Center, 1801 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu

Media instructions:There will be an opportunity for media to shoot video footage and take pictures of the declaration presentation, as well as interview representatives from the Indigenous delegation, ONC and WPRFMC. Interviews can be conducted outside the ballroom.