The primary objective of the Annual Meeting is to provide a global forum for GEF-funded marine and coastal leaders and institutions, aimed at sharing experiences and lessons with respect to ecosystem-based governance. The Annual LME Consultation contributes to the development of the LME Partnership by engaging marine, coastal, biodiversity and coastal climate change adaptation project leaders in meeting those objectives, in accordance with the GEF LME:LEARN project. The Annual meeting was preceded by the Partnership Meeting “Building International Partnership to Enhance Science-Based Ecosystem Approaches in Support of Regional Ocean Governance” (27-28 November 2017).

More specifically, the meeting aims at:  

• Fostering a mutually supportive global network of leaders and institutions engaged in marine and coastal ecosystem based management by providing a forum for project (i.e. LME, ICM, MPA, others) leaders to discuss experiences and lessons learned; 
• Mobilizing knowledge resources, new scientific applications and tools to support project implementation and organizational action related to priority knowledge topics; 
• Reviewing marine and coastal project progress in regions, disseminating best practices amongst projects, and discuss emerging issues requiring common responses; and 
• Discussing and disseminating the results of works conducted by the GEF LME:LEARN project, in particular through the partners and individuals involved in its working groups on governance, data and information management and ecosystem-based management.