Vice Admiral (Ret.) Lautenbacher recently led "a hard working and very
knowledgeable NOAA delegation" at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in South Africa, where he spoke about NOAA's vision of a cross-sector
commitment to ocean and coastal health.
The Admiral
was joined by panelists (from left) Dawn Martin, executive director
of 
Oceana;
Veerle Van de Weerd, coordinator, UN Environment Programme; James Mosely,
deputy secretary of agriculture; explorer Jean Michel Cousteau; and
Ellen Pikitch, executive director of Marine Programs, Wildlife Conservation
Society.
One signature partnership significantly advanced at the summit, a highlighted
federal initiative titled "White Water to BlueWater," recognizes that
healthy oceans and coasts are vital to economic and environmental health.
By underscoring the critical land/sea link, that oceans and coasts are
recipients of whatever happens upland and upstream, "White Water to
Blue Water" is a major step forward in safeguarding promises that have
yet to be discovered.
