935 



50 



U.S. marine scientists, this has resulted in less attention to issues 

 of science and more to political/organizational topics. There is also 

 some question pertaining to the management capabilities of the IOC, 

 which are made more complex by the overall UNESCO bureaucracy. 



About one third of the resources of X.4 and X.5 programs are admin- 

 istered by the Division of Marine Sciences, which has interests closely 

 linked to the IOC. The Division has done a good job in providing 

 training and specialized advisory services for developing countries; 

 increased attention needs to be devoted to this area to enable the 

 developing world to participate more productively in international 

 observational research. U.S. scientists have played important roles in 

 assisting the division to carry out its responsibilities. 



Finally, a significant portion of resources in the X.5 area are 

 devoted to work on coastal island systems. These activities are managed 

 by UNESCO components concerned with ecological and environmental pro- 

 blems coming largely under the purview of the Man and the Biosphere 

 Program. The U.S. plays a strong leadership role in all these aspects 

 of the marine science program through a combination of governmental and 

 nongovernmental participation. 



U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO may affect these three areas of concern 

 in different ways. The United States plans to retain its membership in 

 the IOC, an intergovernmental organization, even if the United States 

 withdraws from UNESCO. This will preserve official U.S. participation 

 in the only intergovernmental organization concerned solely with inter- 

 national oceanographic problems, broadly speaking. It will be neces- 

 sary to work out the details of channeling financial contributions and 

 professional staff support to the IOC, but no serious difficulties are 

 foreseen. The support of and participation in the activities of the 

 Division of Marine Sciences and of MAB are more complex. 



The United States has an important agenda for international coop- 

 erative interactions in the marine sciences area. UNESCO provides one 

 of the most important mechanisms for facilitating and promoting such 

 cooperation. All three areas (IOC, Division of Marine Sciences, and 

 MAB) need to be considered in assessing current activities, including 

 the impact of a U.S. withdrawal from, UNESCO, and proposing interim 

 alternatives for enabling U.S. scientists to continue to participate in 

 these activities. 



Ihe Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) . Three of 

 the IOC activities are of particular concern to the United States: 

 (1) the oceanic components of the World Climate Research Program 

 (WCRP) , (2) the Integrated Global Ocean Services System (IGOSS; , 

 and (3) the International Oceanographic Data Exchange (lODE). 



The oceanographic aspects of the World Climate Research Program 

 (WCRP) are of fundamental interest to the United States. The WCRP has 

 as its objective the prediction on climate over periods of a few months 

 to several decades. It is potentially one of the most economically 

 important scientific programs being pursued by the United States. 

 The United States is playing a leadership role in the WCRP, but active 

 international cooperation among many countries is essential for its 

 success. The oceanographic aspects of the WCRP are being planned 



