scholarly journals Marine protected areas: Just for show?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAFAEL Almeida MAGRIS ◽  
Robert L. Pressey
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
The Core ◽  
Historical Progress ◽  
Spatial Dependencies ◽  
Over Time

Several countries, including Brazil, are making compelling case for historical progress towards achieving the targets for marine protection under the Convention on Biological Diversity. However, this can be done through the establishment of large marine protected areas (MPAs) in the open ocean, a conservation strategy that might be only tangential to the core ecological goal of MPA designation, i.e. biodiversity conservation. By using two newly-designated large MPAs in Brazil as an example, we outline three ways in which they indicate poor adherence to best practices in MPA planning: placing no-take MPAs in areas with limited potential for extractive uses, neglecting the need to account for spatial dependencies among areas to maintain populations over time, and the inadequacy of the MPAs to regulate fishing of mobile pelagic species.

scholarly journals Spain and Marine Protected Areas: Recent Developments

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-855
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Aznar
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Barcelona Convention ◽  
Specially Protected Areas

Abstract Spain has just declared a new marine protected area in the Mediterranean. This follows a protective trend taken by Spanish authorities during the last decades and has permitted Spain to honour its international compromises under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It contributes to a framework of protected areas established under conventional regimes such as OSPAR, RAMSAR or EU Natura 2000. The new area protects a ‘cetacean corridor’ and will be inscribed in the list of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance under the Barcelona Convention regional framework.

scholarly journals “Large Ocean States”: Sovereignty, Small Islands, and Marine Protected Areas in Global Oceans Governance

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Chan
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Small Island ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecological Responsibility ◽  
Island States ◽  
Small Island States

Abstract Small island states are typically portrayed as vulnerable and insignificant actors in international affairs. This article traces the emerging self-identification of “large ocean states” that these small island states in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are now employing, juxtaposing their miniscule landmass and populations with the possession of sovereign authority over large swathes of the world’s oceans. Such authority is increasingly being exercised in the context of biodiversity conservation through expanding marine protected areas (an element of both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity) as an expression of “ecological responsibility.” This new exercise of green sovereignty reinforces state control over spaces previously governed only at a distance, but control made possible only through compromises with nonstate actors to fund, monitor, and govern these MPAs.

The role of science in MPA establishment in California: a personal perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAY HILBORN
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Adaptive Management ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Alternative Designs

SummaryCalifornia has now largely completed a process for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) that may be considered a model for other jurisdictions seeking to meet obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In the Californian process, a team of scientists established guidelines on the size and spacing of MPAs, as well as requirements for habitat representation and replication. The final outcomes, in terms of proportion of the coast encompassed by MPAs and the distribution and sizes of MPAs, were largely a result of decisions taken by the advisory scientists, rather than by the designated decision makers. Future legislation must recognize the uncertainties associated with benefits of MPAs and specifically allow for adaptive management including explicit experimental tests of uncertainties. The science team should define at the outset the major uncertainties about impacts, and deliberate experimentation and adaptive management should be essential parts of each design. Future legislation should be much more specific about the objectives of the MPAs and specify the percentage of the area that should be set aside as MPAs. Finally, quantitative models rather than guidelines should be used to evaluate the consequences of alternative designs.

scholarly journals Efficient expansion of global protected areas requires simultaneous planning for species and ecosystems

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 150107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tal Polak ◽  
James E. M. Watson ◽  
Richard A. Fuller ◽  
Liana N. Joseph ◽  
Tara G. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Adequate Representation ◽  
Efficient Expansion

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)'s strategic plan advocates the use of environmental surrogates, such as ecosystems, as a basis for planning where new protected areas should be placed. However, the efficiency and effectiveness of this ecosystem-based planning approach to adequately capture threatened species in protected area networks is unknown. We tested the application of this approach in Australia according to the nation's CBD-inspired goals for expansion of the national protected area system. We set targets for ecosystems (10% of the extent of each ecosystem) and threatened species (variable extents based on persistence requirements for each species) and then measured the total land area required and opportunity cost of meeting those targets independently, sequentially and simultaneously. We discover that an ecosystem-based approach will not ensure the adequate representation of threatened species in protected areas. Planning simultaneously for species and ecosystem targets delivered the most efficient outcomes for both sets of targets, while planning first for ecosystems and then filling the gaps to meet species targets was the most inefficient conservation strategy. Our analysis highlights the pitfalls of pursuing goals for species and ecosystems non-cooperatively and has significant implications for nations aiming to meet their CBD mandated protected area obligations.

scholarly journals Viewpoint – Is the race for remote, very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) taking us down the wrong track?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jones ◽  
Elizabeth M De Santo
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Monitoring And Enforcement ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets ◽  
Overseas Territories

This viewpoint article argues that relatively recent increases in the designation of remote, very large marine protected areas (VLMPAs) around the world threaten to undermine the very purpose and objectives of the Aichi biodiversity targets they are aiming to address. Questions are raised about the effectiveness, representativeness, and potential for connectivity of these remote VLMPAs as well as whether they are equitably managed. In addition, it is argued that the push for such designations in countries’ overseas territories deflects attention and effort from the challenge of designating and effectively managing MPAs closer to home. In the run-up to the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress and Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), it is important for countries to recognize that remote VLMPAs are but one type of MPA, requiring significant investment in monitoring and enforcement in order to effectively achieve conservation objectives, and that achieving the Aichi MPA coverage target largely through such designations will undermine the aims of this target. To better meet the MPA network criteria set out by the CBD, a range of types of MPAs must be implemented, including smaller MPAs in more intensely used ‘metropolitan seas’, and social justice considerations must be better integrated in conservation planning. It is important that the race towards remote VLMPAs does not divert attention, resources and political will away from the other types of MPA that are necessary for effectively fulfilling marine conservation targets.

Area-Based Management Tools, Including Marine Protected Areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 247-251
Author(s):  
Penelope Nevill
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Marine Areas ◽  
Conservation And Management ◽  
Population Resilience

Area based management tools (ABMTs) such as marine protected areas (MPAs) are recognized by scientists and the international community as essential to promote the conservation and management of oceans and fisheries. They have been shown to enhance population resilience to climate-driven disturbance. In 2005 the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 adopted a target MPA coverage of 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by 2012. In 2010 it extended the target deadline to 2020. By then the global MPA coverage was just over 1 percent. Recent statistics are more encouraging, if only slightly: a UNEP report released in November 2014 found that 3.4 percent of the global ocean is now protected. In any event 10 percent is not enough. A recent review of the scientific literature suggests that the figure needs to be 30 percent.

scholarly journals Legal Analysis of Current Indonesia's Marine Protected Areas Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Adrian Nugraha
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
And Control

This paper aims to conduct a legal analysis of the development of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Indonesia. This article discusses the international legal framework and national legislation related to MPAs, progress and control, and problems in developing MPAs in Indonesia and its solutions. The international legal frameworks discussed include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992, and Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries 1995. Subsequently, the Indonesian legislation analyzed includes the Act on Conservation of Living Resources and their Ecosystems, the Act concerning Fisheries, the Act concerning the Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands, and the Act on Marine Affairs. The progress and control of the establishment of MPAs in Indonesia have now reached the target area of more than twenty million hectares. Apart from the success of these achievements, Indonesia also has problems in developing MPAs. Current problems related to MPA development include dualism of permits, conflicts over zoning and regional spatial planning, multiple interpretations of penal sanctions, and overlapping management authorities between government agencies. The solutions offered to solve these problems include synchronizing marine tourism permits, integrating zoning and spatial plans into one regional government regulation, imposing the most severe criminal sanctions for perpetrators of destroying marine ecosystems, and transfer of full authority over the management of seven marine protected areas to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document