MPA News
MPA Perspective: Monitoring for Resilience to Climate Change in Coral MPAs
Editor’s note: David Obura is East Africa coordinator of Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO), an international research program. Gabriel Grimsditch is program associate with CORDIO. Ameer Abdulla is senior specialist in marine biodiversity and conservation science with IUCN. By David Obura, Gabriel Grimsditch, and Ameer Abdulla With the world’s attention now squarely on climate change as a global threat, many MPA managers are correctly asking, “What can we do about such a large-scale issue?” At the MPA scale, the primary approach to limiting climate impacts is to reduce other stressors. By minimizing the work an ecosystem must…
Implementing France’s MPA Law: Interview with Olivier Laroussinie, Director of the French MPA Agency
After the US, which nation has the second-largest total marine area? France. With island territories worldwide, France’s combined Exclusive Economic Zone and territorial sea total more than 11 million km2. France aims to establish a coherent network of MPAs throughout that marine area. To help do this, the nation passed a law on MPAs in 2006. Among other actions, the law created an Agency for Marine Protected Areas to lead the national network-building effort. Olivier Laroussinie is director of the agency. MPA News spoke with him about reaching his country’s MPA goals. MPA News: What challenges does France face in…
Notes & News
Convention on Biological Diversity adopts criteria, guidance for high seas MPAs In May in Bonn, Germany, the Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took steps to advance the protection of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. Among its actions, COP9 adopted criteria for identifying ecologically significant areas in need of protection in the open ocean and deep sea. The conference urged Parties and invited other governments and relevant organizations to submit their views on these criteria, as well as sites that they think meet the criteria. COP9 also adopted guidance for designing representative networks…
MPA Tip: How to Approach Donors to Establish an Endowment
Last month’s MPA News described how endowments can help provide sustainable financing for MPAs. To establish such endowments requires money. The Nature Conservancy and other international NGOs and institutions have helped finance several MPA-related endowments in recent years. Below, Bill Raynor and Trina Leberer of The Nature Conservancy’s Micronesia Program offer advice for MPA practitioners on how to approach potential donors for endowments: 1. Most importantly, there must be a strong conservation commitment from the local community, region, or nation before pursuing commitments on financing. Donor organizations are more likely to support people or their governments that are pursuing conservation…
Creating Endowments for Sustainable Funding of MPAs: Experts Describe the Opportunities and Challenges
There are multiple sources of financing for MPAs, including domestic government budgets, international assistance, visitor fees, and more. While each source plays a vital role for sites worldwide, it can also be subject to fluctuation. Domestic budgets can be cut. International donors can change their area of interest. Tourism rates can rise and fall. These variations create instability for MPA management. An ideal component of sustainable finance strategies would be a tool that ensures a steady, or even rising, stream of funds over the long term. The tool that perhaps comes closest to this ideal is an endowment. In an…
MPA Perspective: A National MPA Network for Canada by 2012: How Do We Get There from Here?
Editor’s note: Sabine Jessen is national manager of the Oceans and Great Freshwater Lakes Program for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), an NGO. By Sabine Jessen The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) has assessed the factors delaying Canada’s progress toward its international commitment to establishing a network of MPAs by 2012, and has identified opportunities to reach the 2012 goal. Our findings are detailed in the report Challenges and Opportunities in Progress towards Canada’s Commitment to a National Network of MPAs by 2012 (see box at the end of this article). The primary source of information for…
MPA Perspective: Integrating a Community-Based MPA Network at the Barangay Level in the Philippines
Editor’s note: Jan-Willem van Bochove is chief technical advisor to Coral Cay Conservation, a UK-based NGO that works to sustain livelihoods and alleviate poverty through protection and restoration of coral reefs and tropical forests. By Jan-Willem van Bochove Near Padre Burgos, a coastal municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines, fish stocks have declined dramatically in recent years. Although local reefs boast high coral cover and diversity, they support low numbers of commercially targeted fish. Pressure on marine resources is enormous, with exponential growth in the human population: the average family size is eight or more individuals. Fishers in…
Letter to the Editor
Dear MPA News: Upon reading the April 2008 issue of MPA News, I was surprised, if not somewhat dismayed, at the unduly rosy description you gave of the Red Sea Marine Peace Park (RSMPP). I conducted research on this transboundary “marine protected area” for my doctoral dissertation. I would characterize this as a proposed protected area that unfortunately has had neither the funding nor the political and institutional commitment it needs. For my research, I applied a method of spatial multi-criteria analysis on the entire park area for the purposes of developing a proposed protective zoning plan (see Ocean and…
Notes & News
UK proposes network of MPAs The UK government has released a draft Marine Bill that sets out plans for a new network of marine conservation zones around Britain’s coast. The country aims to meet the goal of having an ecologically coherent network of well-managed MPAs by 2012. Currently just 2.2% of UK waters are in MPAs, according to government figures. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said, “Our proposals will raise protection and management of our seas to a new level, halting the decline in biodiversity to create clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse ocean and seas.” Release of the draft…
Marine Peace Parks: Establishing Transboundary MPAs to Improve International Relations and Conservation
Ecosystems and their wildlife do not recognize political boundaries. Therefore, in many cases, management must take transboundary conservation into account. Efforts to achieve conservation across national borders are often described in the context of pursuing ecosystem-based management. But transboundary conservation can yield other benefits, too. This month, MPA News examines the use of MPAs across borders to improve international relations. Whether designated explicitly as part of a peace process between nations, or as a way to broaden an already-friendly relationship between neighbors, marine peace parks offer a means of promoting cooperation and better conservation. What is a peace park? In…