336
It would be pointless to create new MPAs in
marine zones with naturally low productivity.
Following the example of the exemplary Marine
National Park of Port Cros (Doussan et al. 2005 ),
the Mediterranean MedPan network was created
to improve the effi ciency of management of
MPAs in the Mediterranean. It is a model that
includes 58 members (mostly management agencies throughout the Mediterranean basin) and 33
other partners that manage more than 80 MPAs in
18 Mediterranean countries (Gabrié et al. 2012 ).
In principle, the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories for
protected areas would be applicable to all types
of MPAs. However, as the number of terrestrial
protected areas is lower and newer, they do not
have the benefi t of the same level of experience
and knowledge.
Their effects should be better known in a concrete way, which involves many objective and
in situ experiments and observations by competent staff.
In most cases, the category has been determined, but not the management objectives.
Finally, we often forget that many MPAs extend
to both terrestrial and marine areas, and that the
properties of both types of protected areas depend
on the mutual infl uence of one on the other.
4.2
Perturbations of Marine
Protected Areas
Proper management of MPAs requires a good
knowledge of natural, cyclical, or unexpected
structure and functioning of ecosystems existing
in areas considered variations.
Periodic, seasonal, or even circadian changes
are not always taken into account, and they are
much more important than one might think, especially in quantitative evaluations to be performed
at different times of the day or night (Molinero
and Flos 1992 ; Marchand and Masson 1988 ;
Power et al. 2000 ).
One must also refl ect on typhoons and tsunamis, which can have dramatic effects and destroy
large portions of the seabed, as happens frequently
along the coast of Japan and has done since time
immemorial. The return to ‘normal’ operating
conditions of MPAs – resilience – can happen
quickly or take less time depending on the importance and depth of each disturbance.
To some extent, these large changes, periodical or not, weather or seismic, we consider the
human scale can be considered ‘normal’ in the
global long-term functioning of the ecosystems
considered (Salvat 2014 ).
4.3
Integrity of Marine
Protected Areas
The natural environments of the entire planet are
no longer in their original state. We must, in this
view, differentiate between the nature of the
waste that can be recycled in ecosystems forever
and the waste from human activities that the areas
are often not able to recycle (Ceccaldi 2004 ).
They are already affected by human infl uence,
and this is particularly the case for marine pollution and fi sheries.
Plastic debris are everywhere. Not only do
they accumulate in the centers of the great
oceans to occupy huge areas dubbed ‘the plastic
continents’ by journalists, but also micro- and
nano- debris from their mechanical, physical,
chemical, or biological destruction inconspicuously invade water bodies and enter the food
chain, the consequences of which are still poorly
measured.
The situation for soluble drug products from
medical or pharmaceutical chemical businesses
is similar; these can pass through wastewater
treatment plants and retain their original power.
Sand and gravel samples indicate that the
integrity of MPAs is also strongly modifi ed, even
from a great distance, as the equilibrium profi les
and composition of the sea fl oor is affected .
The effects of airborne particles such as ash
emitted by volcanoes or earthworks at sea are
also worth mentioning. Their composition can be
neutral but often toxic, as pesticides come from
distant sources. They can also impede marine
fi lter feeders.
H.-J. Ceccaldi
It would be pointless to create new MPAs in
marine zones with naturally low productivity.
Following the example of the exemplary Marine
National Park of Port Cros (Doussan et al. 2005 ),
the Mediterranean MedPan network was created
to improve the effi ciency of management of
MPAs in the Mediterranean. It is a model that
includes 58 members (mostly management agencies throughout the Mediterranean basin) and 33
other partners that manage more than 80 MPAs in
18 Mediterranean countries (Gabrié et al. 2012 ).
In principle, the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories for
protected areas would be applicable to all types
of MPAs. However, as the number of terrestrial
protected areas is lower and newer, they do not
have the benefi t of the same level of experience
and knowledge.
Their effects should be better known in a concrete way, which involves many objective and
in situ experiments and observations by competent staff.
In most cases, the category has been determined, but not the management objectives.
Finally, we often forget that many MPAs extend
to both terrestrial and marine areas, and that the
properties of both types of protected areas depend
on the mutual infl uence of one on the other.
4.2
Perturbations of Marine
Protected Areas
Proper management of MPAs requires a good
knowledge of natural, cyclical, or unexpected
structure and functioning of ecosystems existing
in areas considered variations.
Periodic, seasonal, or even circadian changes
are not always taken into account, and they are
much more important than one might think, especially in quantitative evaluations to be performed
at different times of the day or night (Molinero
and Flos 1992 ; Marchand and Masson 1988 ;
Power et al. 2000 ).
One must also refl ect on typhoons and tsunamis, which can have dramatic effects and destroy
large portions of the seabed, as happens frequently
along the coast of Japan and has done since time
immemorial. The return to ‘normal’ operating
conditions of MPAs – resilience – can happen
quickly or take less time depending on the importance and depth of each disturbance.
To some extent, these large changes, periodical or not, weather or seismic, we consider the
human scale can be considered ‘normal’ in the
global long-term functioning of the ecosystems
considered (Salvat 2014 ).
4.3
Integrity of Marine
Protected Areas
The natural environments of the entire planet are
no longer in their original state. We must, in this
view, differentiate between the nature of the
waste that can be recycled in ecosystems forever
and the waste from human activities that the areas
are often not able to recycle (Ceccaldi 2004 ).
They are already affected by human infl uence,
and this is particularly the case for marine pollution and fi sheries.
Plastic debris are everywhere. Not only do
they accumulate in the centers of the great
oceans to occupy huge areas dubbed ‘the plastic
continents’ by journalists, but also micro- and
nano- debris from their mechanical, physical,
chemical, or biological destruction inconspicuously invade water bodies and enter the food
chain, the consequences of which are still poorly
measured.
The situation for soluble drug products from
medical or pharmaceutical chemical businesses
is similar; these can pass through wastewater
treatment plants and retain their original power.
Sand and gravel samples indicate that the
integrity of MPAs is also strongly modifi ed, even
from a great distance, as the equilibrium profi les
and composition of the sea fl oor is affected .
The effects of airborne particles such as ash
emitted by volcanoes or earthworks at sea are
also worth mentioning. Their composition can be
neutral but often toxic, as pesticides come from
distant sources. They can also impede marine
fi lter feeders.
H.-J. Ceccaldi