MPA News
Perspective: What does Brexit mean for UK MPAs?
By Jean-Luc Solandt, Bryce Stewart, and Alice Puritz
Brexit may be the single biggest constitutional change that will happen to the UK in its history. The UK government and civil service are still coming to terms with the process of change, the complexity of developing new laws, and the new political horizon of working with our European partners once the UK exits the EU.
Planning an MPA system in Myanmar: Interview with Phil Dearden
The Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar officially emerged from military rule and geopolitical isolation in 2011. A civilian government now holds power, and the nation — home to more than 100 ethnic groups — is reopening itself to the world. Part of this reopening is in the realm of marine conservation: the government is partnering with international NGOs and experts to plan a system of MPAs in the nation’s Myeik Archipelago. Phil Dearden is involved in the planning effort. Dearden leads the Marine Protected Areas Research Group at the University of Victoria (Canada) and has conducted extensive research in SE…
Notes & News: IMPAC4 submission deadline – MPA survey – Cook Islands – Arctic – Climate change – Ross Sea – MPA Science Corner – MPA News Vault
Deadline for IMPAC4 submissions has been extended to 15 May (amended) The Fourth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) will be held 4-8 September 2017 in La Serena-Coquimbo, Chile. The deadline for all submissions is 15 May. This includes submissions of presentations, symposia, workshops, and knowledge cafes. So if you are planning to present at the conference or host an event, get your submissions in soon. (Note: When this news brief was first published in mid-April, the submissions deadline for IMPAC4 was 20 April. That deadline has since been extended to 15 May. The text above has been amended accordingly.)…
Vertical zoning of MPAs: When it is appropriate, when it is not, and how science is changing our understanding
For a marine protected area to be effective means it is successfully addressing threats to the features the MPA was designed to protect. So if an MPA is designed specifically to protect a certain benthic community — like a deep-sea coral reef — then it is effective if it minimizes or eliminates the threats to that community. This raises the question, What is considered a threat? Sometimes it is direct and significant: say, a bottom trawl pulls up part of an important reef. In that case, bottom trawling is a threat to that reef. In other cases, the impact of…
Opponents of US marine national monuments are moving to roll them back, strip fishing restrictions
Last November, MPA News speculated on whether the election of Donald Trump as US President would bring a rollback of MPAs — specifically the large marine national monuments that former President Barack Obama designated or expanded under the US Antiquities Act. (These include the 1.5-million-km2 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest protected area in the world.) Our addendum to that article provided details on how Trump and the Republican Party-controlled Congress might pare back restrictions on fishing or other activities in the MPAs. At that time, one Republican member of Congress was already asking the then-incoming Administration to cancel past…
MPA Science Corner: MPA accountability – Protection Equality metric
Article: “Marine protected areas need accountability not wasted dollars”, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 27, 4 – 9 (2017) Finding: MPAs are largely assessed on a single numerical target (total area), and inconsistent self-identification adds an extra level of opaqueness and bias. The consequence is an unaccountable and under-performing system of MPAs worldwide. Ineffective MPAs should be screened out; MPAs’ effectiveness should be improved where possible; and investment should be redirected toward the largest gaps in the network. Article: “Methods for calculating Protection Equality for conservation planning”, PLOS ONE 12, e0171591 (2017) Finding: At present there is no clear…
Notes & news: IMPAC4 website – France – Great Barrier Reef – MPAs and livelihoods – Preventing paper parks – Rating MPAs – Conservation boot camp – MPA News vault
Are you looking for the IMPAC4 website? The Fourth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) will be held 4-8 September 2017 in La Serena – Coquimbo, Chile. Are you looking for the official website? Click here. The Google search engine is not yet ranking the site highly, making it difficult to find. So please help spread the word – thanks. France expands MPA in sub-Antarctic waters In December, France greatly expanded the Réserve naturelle nationale des Terres australes françaises (French Southern Territories National Nature Reserve) from 15,700 km2 to 665,000 km2. The MPA is in French-controlled sub-Antarctic waters of the…
What are the Sustainable Development Goals, and how will they impact MPA practitioners and decision-makers?
On 1 January 2016, member states of the United Nations adopted a series of 17 Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs. These goals are expected to guide national development plans in the coming years. The SDGs are ambitious: they include such goals as ending poverty, ending hunger, ensuring healthy lives, and achieving sustainable consumption. And under each SDG are multiple specific targets. SDG 1 for example — to end poverty — includes targets to reduce the number of people living in poverty by at least half by 2030, and to eradicate extreme poverty all together. Nestled amid the SDGs is one…
Perspective: Mexico designates three large multiple-use MPAs to protect marine life and fishing communities
By Juan E. Bezaury-Creel, David Gutiérrez-Carbonell, and César Sánchez-Ibarra
On 7 December 2016, during the 13th Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP13) held in Cancún, the Mexican Government designated three new MPAs totaling 647,015 km2. All three sites are multiple-use biosphere reserves, with some zones that are strictly protected (no-take) and others that are sustainably managed.
MPA Science Corner: Predators – Small MPAs – Marine reserve targets – Brazilian MPA
Recent open-access articles on MPA-related science and policy Article: “Size matters: Predator outbreaks threaten foundation species in small Marine Protected Areas”, PLOS ONE 12, e0171569 (2017) Finding: Compared to larger MPAs, small coral reef MPAs may be more prone to outbreaks of predatory crown-of-thorns starfish due to a variety of factors. The authors recommend that an understanding of predator dynamics as a function of habitat size, type, and fragmentation should be incorporated into MPA design and management. Article: “Small Marine Protected Areas in Fiji Provide Refuge for Reef Fish Assemblages, Feeding Groups, and Corals”, PLOS ONE 12, e0170638 (2017) Finding:…