122
The shaping of the global protected area estate
drilling for oil or gas. Fully protected marine reserves
– areas of the ocean completely protected from all
extractive and destructive activities (also known as ‘ no
take ’ zones) – are a special class of marine protected
areas equivalent to the IUCN protected area categories
I and II (Table 2.2 ; see Dudley, 2008 ).
The fi rst marine protected areas were traditional
sacred places or fi sheries protection zones or both (e.g.
Johannes, 1978 ). The oldest ‘ modern ’ protected area
with an explicitly designated marine component is the
Royal National Park, New South Wales, Australia, designated in 1879. Elsewhere in the world, the oldest
reserves are Breton National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana,
USA (1904), Matang Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia
(1906), Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa
(1964), Archipi é lago Los Roques National Park,
Venezuela (1972) and the Underwater Reserve of
Monaco, Monaco (1976) (Anon, 2001/2002 ).
As on land, the marine protected area network
has grown steadily since the mid - 1970s, coincident
with various international conservation conventions
coming into force (UNESCO in 1970; Ramsar
Convention in 1971; UNESCO World Heritage
Convention in 1972). Marine protected area planning
fi rst featured on the global agenda at the Third World
National Parks Congress, held in Bali in 1982, from
which stemmed an objective ‘ to incorporate marine,
coastal and freshwater protected areas into the world -
wide network ’ (Hayden et al ., 1984 ). Since then,
marine planning has gained momentum, and the last
15 years have seen a proliferation of schemes and conservation plans for marine areas, some within a systematic framework, others outside of such frameworks
(see Lourie & Vincent, 2004 , for review).
Calls for protection of 10 – 30 per cent of marine
habitats by 2010 – 2012 have been made (e.g. the 2002
Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, 2003 5th World Parks
Congress and 2006 8th Ordinary Conference of the
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity).
However, recent assessments of the current rate of designation suggest that we will fall far short of these
targets (Wood et al ., 2008 ).
Very little of the area covered by the world ’ s oceans
is currently protected. The most recent review (Spalding
et al ., 2008 ) identifi es 5,045 marine protected areas
that have been statutorily, or non - statutorily designated at national or local levels, covering 2,588,392 km
2
or 4.09 per cent of the total continental shelf area.
Even though some MPAs extend into deep water
systems. In this regard, their analyses suggest that the
worst impacted marine ecosystems are areas of continental shelf and slope which are subject to both land -
based and ocean - based anthropogenic drivers.
The marine environment differs from the terrestrial
in a number of important ways, and this has impacts
both on biogeography (see Chapter 4 ) and conservation
planning (Carr et al ., 2003 ; Lourie & Vincent, 2004 ):
• First, the continuity of habitats in three dimensions,
linked by ubiquitous currents, across vast volumes of
water, allows (at least potentially) for a greater degree
of biological connectivity, especially for organisms
with a planktonic life stage or lifestyle. Thus, while
robust, repeatable biogeographical zonation is possible
for marine regions, the boundaries between regions
may be more dynamic and blurred than for terrestrial
biogeography.
• Second, the Wallacean shortfall (our limited understanding of species ’ distributions) is particularly acute
for many marine taxa.
• Third, historical attitudes towards the marine realm
have typically been to view them as a global resource,
leading to a classic ‘ tragedy of the commons ’ effect.
Efforts to remedy the scientifi c and societal/political
shortfall are under way and, in common with conservation approaches in terrestrial systems, the last two
decades have seen increasing efforts to apply systematic protocols to such analyses (see Chapter 6 ). It can
be argued that marine conservation planning lags
behind terrestrial. However, marine conservation practitioners can take advantage of methods and tools
developed in the terrestrial arena at an earlier stage,
and conversely the differing conservation needs of the
marine realm can stimulate changes in governance
and conservation practise potentially also applicable
to the terrestrial realm (Costanza et al ., 1998 ).
5.4.2 Origins and e xpansion of the m arine
p rotected a rea e state
Marine protected areas (MPAs), place - based conservation in the sea, constitute an important conservation
tool. As on land, there has been extensive debate
regarding the appropriate location, size, spacing
and connectivity of marine reserves (see Lubchenco
et al ., 2003 , and other papers in the same volume).
The actual level of protection within MPAs varies
considerably, with most allowing some extractive activities, such as fi shing, while prohibiting others, such as
The shaping of the global protected area estate
drilling for oil or gas. Fully protected marine reserves
– areas of the ocean completely protected from all
extractive and destructive activities (also known as ‘ no
take ’ zones) – are a special class of marine protected
areas equivalent to the IUCN protected area categories
I and II (Table 2.2 ; see Dudley, 2008 ).
The fi rst marine protected areas were traditional
sacred places or fi sheries protection zones or both (e.g.
Johannes, 1978 ). The oldest ‘ modern ’ protected area
with an explicitly designated marine component is the
Royal National Park, New South Wales, Australia, designated in 1879. Elsewhere in the world, the oldest
reserves are Breton National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana,
USA (1904), Matang Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia
(1906), Tsitsikamma National Park, South Africa
(1964), Archipi é lago Los Roques National Park,
Venezuela (1972) and the Underwater Reserve of
Monaco, Monaco (1976) (Anon, 2001/2002 ).
As on land, the marine protected area network
has grown steadily since the mid - 1970s, coincident
with various international conservation conventions
coming into force (UNESCO in 1970; Ramsar
Convention in 1971; UNESCO World Heritage
Convention in 1972). Marine protected area planning
fi rst featured on the global agenda at the Third World
National Parks Congress, held in Bali in 1982, from
which stemmed an objective ‘ to incorporate marine,
coastal and freshwater protected areas into the world -
wide network ’ (Hayden et al ., 1984 ). Since then,
marine planning has gained momentum, and the last
15 years have seen a proliferation of schemes and conservation plans for marine areas, some within a systematic framework, others outside of such frameworks
(see Lourie & Vincent, 2004 , for review).
Calls for protection of 10 – 30 per cent of marine
habitats by 2010 – 2012 have been made (e.g. the 2002
Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, 2003 5th World Parks
Congress and 2006 8th Ordinary Conference of the
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity).
However, recent assessments of the current rate of designation suggest that we will fall far short of these
targets (Wood et al ., 2008 ).
Very little of the area covered by the world ’ s oceans
is currently protected. The most recent review (Spalding
et al ., 2008 ) identifi es 5,045 marine protected areas
that have been statutorily, or non - statutorily designated at national or local levels, covering 2,588,392 km
2
or 4.09 per cent of the total continental shelf area.
Even though some MPAs extend into deep water
systems. In this regard, their analyses suggest that the
worst impacted marine ecosystems are areas of continental shelf and slope which are subject to both land -
based and ocean - based anthropogenic drivers.
The marine environment differs from the terrestrial
in a number of important ways, and this has impacts
both on biogeography (see Chapter 4 ) and conservation
planning (Carr et al ., 2003 ; Lourie & Vincent, 2004 ):
• First, the continuity of habitats in three dimensions,
linked by ubiquitous currents, across vast volumes of
water, allows (at least potentially) for a greater degree
of biological connectivity, especially for organisms
with a planktonic life stage or lifestyle. Thus, while
robust, repeatable biogeographical zonation is possible
for marine regions, the boundaries between regions
may be more dynamic and blurred than for terrestrial
biogeography.
• Second, the Wallacean shortfall (our limited understanding of species ’ distributions) is particularly acute
for many marine taxa.
• Third, historical attitudes towards the marine realm
have typically been to view them as a global resource,
leading to a classic ‘ tragedy of the commons ’ effect.
Efforts to remedy the scientifi c and societal/political
shortfall are under way and, in common with conservation approaches in terrestrial systems, the last two
decades have seen increasing efforts to apply systematic protocols to such analyses (see Chapter 6 ). It can
be argued that marine conservation planning lags
behind terrestrial. However, marine conservation practitioners can take advantage of methods and tools
developed in the terrestrial arena at an earlier stage,
and conversely the differing conservation needs of the
marine realm can stimulate changes in governance
and conservation practise potentially also applicable
to the terrestrial realm (Costanza et al ., 1998 ).
5.4.2 Origins and e xpansion of the m arine
p rotected a rea e state
Marine protected areas (MPAs), place - based conservation in the sea, constitute an important conservation
tool. As on land, there has been extensive debate
regarding the appropriate location, size, spacing
and connectivity of marine reserves (see Lubchenco
et al ., 2003 , and other papers in the same volume).
The actual level of protection within MPAs varies
considerably, with most allowing some extractive activities, such as fi shing, while prohibiting others, such as