In Ross Sea, CCAMLR designates what will be world’s largest protected area
The world will soon have a new largest protected area, marine or terrestrial. In October, member states of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed by consensus to designate a 1.55 million-km2 MPA in the remote and...
Perspective: Victory for Antarctica’s Ross Sea – An inside look at the long road to the world’s largest MPA
By Rodolfo Werner, Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition This October, something extraordinary took place in the Southern Hemisphere. After years of negotiations at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), 24 countries and...
Will the election of Donald Trump bring a rollback of MPAs?
MPA News does not normally report on elections of national leaders. However, the early-November election of Donald J. Trump to serve as the next President of the US could be relevant to the MPA field. In particular there is the possibility it could bring a rollback of...
Perspective: Building a network of MPAs and management on Western Danajon Bank, Philippines
By Liezel C. Paraboles, Wilfredo L. Campos, and Samuel J. Gulayan
Danajon Bank is the only double barrier reef in the Philippines and across Asia. Historically, this area likely had the richest coastal marine habitats among islands and shoals in Central Philippines (e.g., extensive coral reefs, dense seagrass beds, expansive mangrove areas), and was perhaps the region’s most productive marine area. But because of continuously increasing fishing pressure brought about by an ever-growing coastal population, marine resources in Danajon Bank have been heavily exploited for decades, leading to dwindling fish catches for small-scale fishermen. Thus several NGOs and government agencies have come in to address these threats to coastal marine habitats and the living resources they harbor.