ET CETERA

Conferences

Restore America's Estuaries, April 13-16, 2003, Baltimore, Maryland

Restore America's Estuaries is a nonprofit organization established in 1995 to preserve the nation's network of estuaries by protecting and restoring the lands and waters essential to the richness and diversity of coastal life. The organization will convene its inaugural conference in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in April.

The conference will bring together those engaged in and interested in furthering the restoration of estuaries nationwide - this includes field practitioners, community leaders, consultants, scientists, regulators, program managers, educators and volunteers. For more information, visit the website at www.estuaries.org or call 703.524.0248.

Publications

The State of the Bay Report

This 58-page report, produced by the Chesapeake Bay Program, covers cooperative efforts to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay, North America's largest estuary. It provides an in-depth look into current environmental conditions throughout the Bay region and includes information that residents of the Bay watershed can use to get involved in Bay restoration efforts. The report also describes the health of the Chesapeake, its tributaries, habitats and living organisms. Major sections include "Life in the Bay," "Sound Land Use" and "Water Quality."

The publication may be downloaded from the web at www.chesapeakebay.net/pubs/sob/ or ordered from the Bay Program, 410 Severn Avenue, Suite 109, Annapolis, Maryland 21403, phone 800.YOUR.BAY, fax 410.267.5777.

Web Resources

Water and Habitat Quality

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recently launched this web site to make Chesapeake and Coastal Bays water and habitat quality monitoring data more publicly available. The site highlights new technologies that provide continuous data in near real-time as well as water quality mapping. Data from traditional long-term monitoring stations are also being updated to the web site within days of collection and links have been established to other timely sources of Bay monitoring information.

Web address: www.eyesonthebay.net

World Oceans Atlas

To draw attention to the failing health of the world's marine ecosystems, the United Nations has launched an online atlas of the oceans. The site is an internet portal that provides information relevant to sustainable development of the oceans.

Designed for policy-makers, scientists, students and resource managers who need access to databases and approaches to sustainability, the atlas is comprised of fourteen global maps and four main entry points: "About the Oceans" contains maps and includes history, biology, statistical, climatological and ecological information; "Uses of the Oceans" covers the fisheries industry, shipping and mining, ocean dumping and marine biotechnology; "Issues of the Oceans" focuses on food security, climate change and human health; and "Geography of Oceans" contains information categorized by geographical area.

Web address: www.oceanatlas.org/index.jsp

This page was last modified May 27, 2003

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