Why have the GPA?

The major threats to the health, productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment result from human activities on land - in coastal areas and further inland. Some 80% of the pollution load in the oceans originates from land-based activities. These contaminants affect the most productive areas of the marine environment, including estuaries and near-shore coastal waters. The marine environment is also threatened by physical alterations of the coastal zone, including destruction of habitats of vital importance to maintain ecosystem health. The health, well-being and, in some cases, the very survival of coastal populations depends upon the health and well-being of coastal systems such as estuaries and wetlands. The intense pressures put on the coastal systems requires serious commitment and preventive action at all levels: local, national, regional and global.

In response to these major problems, 108 governments and the European Commission declared their commitment to protect and preserve the marine environment from the adverse environmental impacts of land-based activities. As a result, the Global Program of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities and the Washington Declaration was adopted in 1995.