Signs of Change
69
munities and often lead to a sense of ownership, both of
the common resources and of the regulations, which are
perceived more clearly to be for their own benefit.
Fishing activities are among those most commonly
controlled by legal measures. As an extreme example,
blast fishing is now illegal in every country where it is
known to occur. Other fishing controls are also widely
used in some countries, and a number of these are listed
in Table 2.4.
As tourism grows and diving and snorkelling become
widespread so a number of measures may be taken to
restrict activities, with regulations prohibiting such actions
as spearfishing or anchoring boats in coral reef areas.
Pollution controls are also of increasing importance,
particularly in areas under development for tourism.
Many new developments now require the undertaking
of environmental impact assessments prior to getting
permission to build, and there are growing numbers of
laws governing new buildings, including measures such as
proximity to the sea and sewage treatment.
Most of the legislation designed directly to deal with
coral reef protection is focussed toward the immediate or
adjacent threats, but many of the problems facing coral
reefs are actually derived from quite remote activities.
Here too, however, legislation can be utilized which may
be directly linked to coral reef protection, but may also
have wider applications. Policy or legislation to control
sewage and other pollution is one such example, while
another may be various efforts to control agricultural
or forestry practices. The prevention of clear felling of
forests on steep slopes or in buffer zones close to rivers
is a clear example, often enacted to prevent soil erosion,
but also having positive consequences for coral reefs at
some distance away. One of the most widespread legal
mechanisms for protecting coral reefs is the designation of
protected areas, and this is considered separately in the
following section.
Marine protected areas and no-take zones
The earliest examples of setting aside areas for conservation are predominantly terrestrial. Sacred forests and
royal hunting grounds dating back many centuries are
scattered across Europe and Asia. In the marine realm, the
earliest protected areas were probably some of the reefs of
the Pacific, where local communities or community chiefs
placed restrictions or total bans on fishing. The growth
of legally declared marine protected areas outside such
traditional systems is, in comparison, a more recent
phenomenon, with only a few sites declared by the end of
the 19th century.
Strict definitions of marine protected areas vary. One
of the most widely used, and one of the broadest, is
provided by lUCN-The World Conservation Union, which
states that a marine protected area is "any area of intertidal
or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and
associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features,
which has been reserved by law or other effective means
to protect part or all of the enclosed environment". Such a
definition includes sites such as mangrove forests, even
if they do not incorporate open sea, but it also leads to
the inclusion of sites which are predominantly terrestrial,
simply because they include small areas of intertidal land.
The maps throughout this atlas show the locations of all
marine protected areas, but the associated data tables in
the text list only those with coral reefs.
These sites have been established for a number of
Market research has shown that clivers, many of whom spend thousands of dollars on dive vacations as well as on diving
and photographic equipment, are enthusiastic supporters of entrance fees which are used for the maintenance of marine
protected areas.
69
munities and often lead to a sense of ownership, both of
the common resources and of the regulations, which are
perceived more clearly to be for their own benefit.
Fishing activities are among those most commonly
controlled by legal measures. As an extreme example,
blast fishing is now illegal in every country where it is
known to occur. Other fishing controls are also widely
used in some countries, and a number of these are listed
in Table 2.4.
As tourism grows and diving and snorkelling become
widespread so a number of measures may be taken to
restrict activities, with regulations prohibiting such actions
as spearfishing or anchoring boats in coral reef areas.
Pollution controls are also of increasing importance,
particularly in areas under development for tourism.
Many new developments now require the undertaking
of environmental impact assessments prior to getting
permission to build, and there are growing numbers of
laws governing new buildings, including measures such as
proximity to the sea and sewage treatment.
Most of the legislation designed directly to deal with
coral reef protection is focussed toward the immediate or
adjacent threats, but many of the problems facing coral
reefs are actually derived from quite remote activities.
Here too, however, legislation can be utilized which may
be directly linked to coral reef protection, but may also
have wider applications. Policy or legislation to control
sewage and other pollution is one such example, while
another may be various efforts to control agricultural
or forestry practices. The prevention of clear felling of
forests on steep slopes or in buffer zones close to rivers
is a clear example, often enacted to prevent soil erosion,
but also having positive consequences for coral reefs at
some distance away. One of the most widespread legal
mechanisms for protecting coral reefs is the designation of
protected areas, and this is considered separately in the
following section.
Marine protected areas and no-take zones
The earliest examples of setting aside areas for conservation are predominantly terrestrial. Sacred forests and
royal hunting grounds dating back many centuries are
scattered across Europe and Asia. In the marine realm, the
earliest protected areas were probably some of the reefs of
the Pacific, where local communities or community chiefs
placed restrictions or total bans on fishing. The growth
of legally declared marine protected areas outside such
traditional systems is, in comparison, a more recent
phenomenon, with only a few sites declared by the end of
the 19th century.
Strict definitions of marine protected areas vary. One
of the most widely used, and one of the broadest, is
provided by lUCN-The World Conservation Union, which
states that a marine protected area is "any area of intertidal
or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and
associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features,
which has been reserved by law or other effective means
to protect part or all of the enclosed environment". Such a
definition includes sites such as mangrove forests, even
if they do not incorporate open sea, but it also leads to
the inclusion of sites which are predominantly terrestrial,
simply because they include small areas of intertidal land.
The maps throughout this atlas show the locations of all
marine protected areas, but the associated data tables in
the text list only those with coral reefs.
These sites have been established for a number of
Market research has shown that clivers, many of whom spend thousands of dollars on dive vacations as well as on diving
and photographic equipment, are enthusiastic supporters of entrance fees which are used for the maintenance of marine
protected areas.