becoming more prevalent, especially following
bleaching stress. Bacteria in sewage pollution are
a suspected cause of White Band disease in corals.
8. Shipping and related issues – Oils and hydrocarbons
inadvertently discharged, or deliberately washed overboard, can cause impacts, especially if they occur during
coral spawning. Coral reefs and mangroves are more
susceptible to the impacts of oil spills compared to sandy
beaches or seagrass beds. Other ship-sourced threats
include sewage discharge and toxic discharges, as well
as the impacts of antifouling paint used on vessels.
Effective reef conservation
An emerging realization is that effective marine conservation requires a lot more than just protecting areas in MPAs
alone; in order to provide for the future, including any sustainable use, effective reef conservation requires the
following:
1. Understanding, and effective management, of the
wider context (i.e., the surrounding waters and the ecological processes that influence the coral reef as well as
the nearby catchment areas); this means, in effect, integrated land/sea management;
2. Sustainable resource utilization (especially fishing and
collecting) of the coral reef as well as the surrounding
marine area;
3. Effective marine protection (which may be by declaring an MPA through a legal or other effective means);
4. Effective stakeholder involvement (industry and community); and
5. Where appropriate, the incorporation of traditional
management approaches.
Marine protected areas
In recent decades, considerable efforts have occurred
worldwide to establish MPAs to improve marine conservation. A diverse array of MPA types, each with its own
label and priorities, has arisen in coastal and marine areas
throughout the world.
In this instance, MPA is used as a broad generic or
“umbrella” term, reflecting the IUCN definition amended
in 2008 of a protected area:
A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated
and managed, through legal or other effective means, to
achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated
ecosystem services and cultural values.
IUCN has seven categories of protected area, ranging from
highly protected “no-take” areas, intended only for scientific research (IUCN Category IA), through no-take areas
that may be accessed by the public but where virtually
all types of extraction are prohibited (IUCN Category
II), to multiple-use areas in which the sustainable extraction or collection of natural resources may occur (IUCN
Category VI).
One of the better known MPAs with coral reefs is the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), covering
344,400 km
2 on Australia’s northeast coast. Because of
the iconic status of the Great Barrier Reef, many people
believe the entire area is a marine sanctuary or marine
reserve, and therefore protected equally throughout.
While the entire area is protected by law, many do not
understand that the GBRMP is a multiple-use MPA, in
which a wide range of activities and uses are allowed,
including many extractive industries in certain zones
(but not mining nor drilling for oil), while still protecting
one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems (refer to the
GBRMP Activity Matrix, Figure 1).
A major rezoning of the GBRMP occurred from 1999
to 2004, with the primary aim to improve the protection
of the range of biodiversity throughout the GBRMP. The
final outcome included an increase in “no-take” zones to
over 33% of the entire area, with an additional 33% zoned
to ensure comprehensive habitat protection (refer to map
showing the zoning in the GBRMP, Figure 2).
The comprehensive, multiple-use zoning system in the
GBRMP (which comprises IUCN categories IA, II, IV,
and VI) is a systematic network that effectively governs
all human activities, providing high levels of protection
for specific areas, while allowing a variety of other uses,
including shipping, dredging, aquaculture, tourism,
boating, diving, commercial fishing, and recreational fishing, to occur in certain zones.
The most optimistic estimates indicate that less than 1%
of the world’s oceans are currently in any type of MPA,
and only a small proportion of coral reefs is adequately
protected. While there are many effective MPAs, there
are also many ’paper parks’ that are not achieving what
was intended when they were declared.
Recent declarations of several large MPAs, which
include coral reefs such as Papahanomoukuakea (NW
Hawaiian Islands) and the Phoenix Islands in the Republic
of Kiribati, are encouraging, but collectively are still not
enough to meet global targets set by international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The benefits of MPAs
Single MPAs, particularly those containing appropriately
chosen “no-take” areas, can provide a range of benefits
including helping to maintain biodiversity, enhance
nonconsumptive opportunities, and improve stocks that
have commercial and recreational value in adjacent areas.
The benefits of MPAs, however, will be greatly
increased if they are effectively linked to provide ecologically coherent networks. Any MPA network should be
designed to link individual areas and comprehensively
represent the region’s spectrum of marine life characteristics, not just a subset of habitats or only species of special
interest.
The focus on MPA networks recognizes the fact that
a broad-area-integrated network that has been systematically developed and managed is often more effective than
a series of small, highly protected areas surrounded by “a
sea” of unmanaged activities.
232
CONSERVATION AND MARINE PROTECTION AREAS
bleaching stress. Bacteria in sewage pollution are
a suspected cause of White Band disease in corals.
8. Shipping and related issues – Oils and hydrocarbons
inadvertently discharged, or deliberately washed overboard, can cause impacts, especially if they occur during
coral spawning. Coral reefs and mangroves are more
susceptible to the impacts of oil spills compared to sandy
beaches or seagrass beds. Other ship-sourced threats
include sewage discharge and toxic discharges, as well
as the impacts of antifouling paint used on vessels.
Effective reef conservation
An emerging realization is that effective marine conservation requires a lot more than just protecting areas in MPAs
alone; in order to provide for the future, including any sustainable use, effective reef conservation requires the
following:
1. Understanding, and effective management, of the
wider context (i.e., the surrounding waters and the ecological processes that influence the coral reef as well as
the nearby catchment areas); this means, in effect, integrated land/sea management;
2. Sustainable resource utilization (especially fishing and
collecting) of the coral reef as well as the surrounding
marine area;
3. Effective marine protection (which may be by declaring an MPA through a legal or other effective means);
4. Effective stakeholder involvement (industry and community); and
5. Where appropriate, the incorporation of traditional
management approaches.
Marine protected areas
In recent decades, considerable efforts have occurred
worldwide to establish MPAs to improve marine conservation. A diverse array of MPA types, each with its own
label and priorities, has arisen in coastal and marine areas
throughout the world.
In this instance, MPA is used as a broad generic or
“umbrella” term, reflecting the IUCN definition amended
in 2008 of a protected area:
A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated
and managed, through legal or other effective means, to
achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated
ecosystem services and cultural values.
IUCN has seven categories of protected area, ranging from
highly protected “no-take” areas, intended only for scientific research (IUCN Category IA), through no-take areas
that may be accessed by the public but where virtually
all types of extraction are prohibited (IUCN Category
II), to multiple-use areas in which the sustainable extraction or collection of natural resources may occur (IUCN
Category VI).
One of the better known MPAs with coral reefs is the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), covering
344,400 km
2 on Australia’s northeast coast. Because of
the iconic status of the Great Barrier Reef, many people
believe the entire area is a marine sanctuary or marine
reserve, and therefore protected equally throughout.
While the entire area is protected by law, many do not
understand that the GBRMP is a multiple-use MPA, in
which a wide range of activities and uses are allowed,
including many extractive industries in certain zones
(but not mining nor drilling for oil), while still protecting
one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems (refer to the
GBRMP Activity Matrix, Figure 1).
A major rezoning of the GBRMP occurred from 1999
to 2004, with the primary aim to improve the protection
of the range of biodiversity throughout the GBRMP. The
final outcome included an increase in “no-take” zones to
over 33% of the entire area, with an additional 33% zoned
to ensure comprehensive habitat protection (refer to map
showing the zoning in the GBRMP, Figure 2).
The comprehensive, multiple-use zoning system in the
GBRMP (which comprises IUCN categories IA, II, IV,
and VI) is a systematic network that effectively governs
all human activities, providing high levels of protection
for specific areas, while allowing a variety of other uses,
including shipping, dredging, aquaculture, tourism,
boating, diving, commercial fishing, and recreational fishing, to occur in certain zones.
The most optimistic estimates indicate that less than 1%
of the world’s oceans are currently in any type of MPA,
and only a small proportion of coral reefs is adequately
protected. While there are many effective MPAs, there
are also many ’paper parks’ that are not achieving what
was intended when they were declared.
Recent declarations of several large MPAs, which
include coral reefs such as Papahanomoukuakea (NW
Hawaiian Islands) and the Phoenix Islands in the Republic
of Kiribati, are encouraging, but collectively are still not
enough to meet global targets set by international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The benefits of MPAs
Single MPAs, particularly those containing appropriately
chosen “no-take” areas, can provide a range of benefits
including helping to maintain biodiversity, enhance
nonconsumptive opportunities, and improve stocks that
have commercial and recreational value in adjacent areas.
The benefits of MPAs, however, will be greatly
increased if they are effectively linked to provide ecologically coherent networks. Any MPA network should be
designed to link individual areas and comprehensively
represent the region’s spectrum of marine life characteristics, not just a subset of habitats or only species of special
interest.
The focus on MPA networks recognizes the fact that
a broad-area-integrated network that has been systematically developed and managed is often more effective than
a series of small, highly protected areas surrounded by “a
sea” of unmanaged activities.
232
CONSERVATION AND MARINE PROTECTION AREAS