The major threats to the health and productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment result from human activities on land -in coastal areas and further inland. Most of the pollution load of the oceans, including municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes and run-off, as well as atmospheric deposition, emanates from such land-based activities and affects the most productive areas of the marine environment, including estuaries and near-shore coastal waters. These areas are likewise threatened by physical alteration of the coastal environment, including destruction of habitats of vital importance for ecosystem health. Moreover, contaminants which pose risks to human health and living resources are transported long distances by watercourses, ocean currents and atmospheric processes.The secretariat has the honour to circulate herewith the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, as adopted on 3 November 1995 by the Intergovernmental Conference which met for that purpose in Washington, D.C., from 23 October to 3 November 1995.