Networks & Partners

Antarctic Ocean Alliance: In 2013 OceanCare joined this coalition of leading environmental and conservation organisations committed to protecting Antarcica’s Southern Ocean by establishing marine protected areas. www.antarcticocean.org

Beat the Microbead: OceanCare is part of the international campaign against microbeads in cosmetics. www.beatthemicrobead.org

Cetacean Alliance: OceanCare is a co-founder of the alliance, established in 2007 to protect marine mammals. The member organisations are committed to preserving marine biodiversity and reducing negative human impacts on whale and dolphin populations. www.cetaceanalliance.org

Dolphinaria-Free Europe: OceanCare is part of the organising committee of the European NGO coalition that is committed to ending the captivity of dolphins in Europe. www.endcap.eu

European Cetacean Society (ECS): The European Cetacean Society (ECS) promotes the scientific studies of marine mammals, and has done so since 1987. In most European countries, the association is represented by a national contact person. Since 2012, Dr Silvia Frey of OceanCare has fulfilled this function for Switzerland. www.europeancetaceansociety.eu

Global Environmental Society (GES): Since 2015 OceanCare is a member of the Global Environmental Society, an international network for sustainability, innovation and information. GES promotes the worldwide exchange of ideas and knowledge among like-minded people and advocates for a sustainable living. www.globalenvironmentalsociety.net

High Seas Alliance: Since August 2011, OceanCare has been a member of the High Seas Alliance, an international coalition to protect the high seas. The objective of the Alliance is to facilitate international cooperation to establish high seas protected areas and to strengthen high seas governance. www.highseasalliance.org

IG STOPPP: OceanCare is a member of the Stop Plastic Pollution Switzerland syndicate founded in 2015. STOPPP’s social, economical and political commitment directs against plastic pollution and microbeads in Switzerland. www.stoppp.org

International Ocean Noise Coalition: OceanCare is a founding member and one of the leading organisations of the International Ocean Noise Coalition (IONC), a partnership of over 150 non-governmental organisations from around the world. IONC was initiated in 2003 to take a global approach to reduce and regulate ocean noise pollution in the world’s oceans. www.oceannoisecoalition.org

Seas At Risk: Since 2015 OceanCare is member of the European association of non-governmental environmental organisations working to protect and restore to health the marine environment of the European seas and the wider North East Atlantic. www.seas-at-risk.org

Shark Alliance: OceanCare has been a member of the Shark Alliance for many years and supports initiatives for the protection of sharks. www.sharkalliance.org

Silent Oceans Coalition: The international coalition was founded in 2002 by OceanCare and aims to inform the public about underwater noise and to stir it into action against. Meanwhile 26 organisations appeal for the online protest against critical industrial and military activities in the oceans. They pursue media attention in various countries and establish important contacts. www.silentoceans.org

SOSdelfines: Since 2013 OceanCare has been part of the coalition SOSdelfines and has advocated together with European animal welfare organisations for the public education regarding the situation of dolphins in captivity and for the end of dolphinaria in Spain. www.sosdelphine.org

Species Survival Network (SSN): Since 1997, OceanCare has been part of the Species Survival Network (SSN) and is thus committed to the strict enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). OceanCare’s endeavours are specifically focused on a ban on trade in whale, dolphin, shark and ray specimen and products. OceanCare also strives for polar bears and endangered fish to be protected under the Convention. www.ssn.org

Wildlife Migration Network: OceanCare joined the Wildlife Migration Network in 2013 coordinating and supporting the protection of migrating animal species in international processes. www.wildmigration.org

UN-Sonderberaterstatus: In 2011, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations grants OceanCare Special Consultative Status. Such status entitles OceanCare to deliver oral and written statements to all relevant UN bodies. www.un.org

UNEP/UNEA: In December 2015 OceanCare received the accreditation for the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP, for the United Nations Environment Assembly UNEA and for subsidiary agreements. The UN Environment Programme is the only body of the UN solely occupied with the environment und plays a leading role in global environmental protection efforts. www.unep.org

UNEP Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML): OceanCare is part of the global network consisting of governments, NGOs, scientific experts, private stakeholders, representatives of the civil population and interested individuals. GPML participants compile solutions to target a reduction of marine plastic pollution. www.unep.org/gpml

ACCOBAMS: Since 2004, OceanCare is an official partner of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) to protect cetaceans. As a member of the science committee, OceanCare contributes expertise, collaborates for the conservation of cetaceans and is involved in specific working groups, i.e. ocean noise pollution, bycatch and other threats. www.accobams.org

ASCOBANS: The regional agreement on the conservation of small cetaceans in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, in the North Atlantic and in the Irish Sea ASCOBANS covers all of the toothed whales occurring in these areas except for the sperm whale. www.ascobans.org

CITES: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES is understood as the Washington protection of endangered species agreement that controls the international trade of endangered animal and plant species. In this body OceanCare is committed to trade restrictions or trade bans for the protection of marine species in general and in particular for whales, dolphins, manatees, seals, sharks and polar bears. In doing so OceanCare often collaborates with the Species Survival Network. www.cites.org

CMS/Bonner Konvention: The Bonn Convention is part of the environment programme of the United Nations and is devoted to the convervation of migratory species of wild animals. Within this convention OceanCare is committed to the protection of marine animals and of their habitat. OceanCare president Sigrid Lüber honorarily appears as Vice-Chairwoman of the underwater noise working group by the three agreements CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS. www.cms.int

EU-Kommission: Since 2014 OceanCare has been a member of the working group for the implementation of the new ocean strategy framework directive (MSFD), which states that the European sea neighbouring states are obliged to (re)constitute a good condition of the marine world in their regions until 2020. ec.europa.eu

FAO/COFI: Under the heading of the International Ocean Noise Coalition OceanCare has contributed in the fishing committee COFI of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO in order to push the socio-economic investigations about the impacts of marine noise pollution on fish stocks and fishery. www.fao.org/cofi

IWC/Wissenschaftsausschuss: Since 1992 OceanCare as the only Swiss NGO has been campaigning for the protection of whales in the world oceans as an observer at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). OceanCare participates with experts in the meetings of the IWC and of the IWC scientific committee. www.iwc.int