MPA News
“Naturalness” and MPAs: Scientists Discuss Protection for Last Undisturbed Ocean Sites
When deciding where to site new marine protected areas, planners often consider the “naturalness” of a location – its relative lack of disturbance or degradation by humans. Reasons for using this criterion vary from economic to scientific, and from ecological to philosophical. In each case, the goal of these planners is to protect relatively pristine sites before significant human-induced change occurs. But how much of the ocean still exists in a truly “natural” state? And how can resource managers protect pristine areas before human disturbance happens? This month, MPA News briefly examines the criterion of naturalness and the potential role…
MPA Perspective: The Art of Communicating MPA Science
Editor’s note: Claire Braund, author of the following perspective piece, is a director of The Regional Institute, a non-profit organization in New South Wales (Australia) that works to improve public access to research and educational information. Two years ago, when the New South Wales Government set up public consultation processes to plan a new marine park in state waters and zone three existing ones, it hired Braund to coordinate public awareness and media campaigns in support of those processes. Her piece describes strategies she employed to communicate scientific knowledge on MPAs to the public. Updates on the marine parks mentioned…
Notes & News
Volunteer ranger killed in Philippines Sixto Atienza, 44-year-old director of a team of volunteer rangers who enforced fisheries regulations and MPAs in Balayan Bay, Philippines, was shot and killed by an unknown assailant on May 3. In his two years as leader of the Calatagan Bantay Dagat (a group of fishermen who patrol the bay and wield enforcement powers), Atienza had overseen the arrest of more than 120 illegal fishers and the confiscation of 26 boats. There is speculation that his murder, carried out in public immediately after he had given a speech at a festival, was intended as retribution…
Private-Sector Ownership of MPAs: Cases Illustrate Challenges and Opportunities
Nations generally hold their coastal waters and submerged lands to be the property of the state, kept in the public trust. As a result, the great majority of marine protected areas around the globe are publicly operated, with government oversight of planning and management. However, there are examples worldwide of MPAs that exist under the ownership of (or long-term lease to) private organizations, and other MPAs are managed through close partnership arrangements between private and public entities. There are also cases in which private entities such as coastal resorts – dependent on revenue related to healthy waters – have developed…
MPA Perspective: Practical Action with Marine Reserve Systems
Editor’s note: Bill Ballantine, author of this perspective piece, is a marine biologist at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland. In last month’s MPA News, Ballantine outlined a set of scientific principles he described as necessary for the planning of systems of no-take marine reserves (MPA News 4:9). This month, he envisions what the future of marine reserve monitoring and management will be like if those principles are followed. Ballantine has advocated the concept of no-take marine reserves since the 1960s, and helped promote many of the 18 reserves in New Zealand waters. He was awarded a Goldman Prize…
MPA Perspective: Managing Conflict With and Among User Groups: Winning Strategies for MPA Managers
Editor’s note: Lynne Hinkey, co-author of this perspective piece, is a trainer at the Coastal Services Center of the (US) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She has taught courses on conflict management across the US and has been involved in an array of public processes surrounding marine management issues, including MPAs. Heidi Recksiek, her co-author, coordinates MPA-related training and technical assistance services for the (US) National MPA Center, managed by NOAA. Here they offer advice for MPA managers on how to manage conflict in planning and management efforts. The advice is based upon feedback they have received from managers…
Notes and News
International effort launched to protect park rangers IUCN and the International Ranger Federation (IRF) have co-launched an initiative to address physical threats and violence faced by rangers in protected areas around the world. The “Protect the Protectors” initiative seeks to draw international attention to the increasing dangers faced by rangers – including assaults by poachers, smugglers and other criminal elements – and to enhance ranger safety. “This initiative grew out of concerns expressed by our member associations regarding the increasing loss of lives among rangers, particularly in the developing world,” said Gordon Miller, IRF executive director. “There is a need…
The Science of Larval Dispersal and Its Implications for Marine Reserve Planning
For scientists who study the larvae of marine species, traditional theory has held that such offspring are relatively passive in their movement, riding ocean currents potentially great distances before settling in a new area of the sea. But recent research on larval dispersal has suggested that for many species, larvae may play a relatively active role in determining their own settlement area. Some larvae may even resist currents in order to stay in local waters, the home range of their parents, establishing a cycle of self-recruitment for the resident population. Where MPA planners seek to protect marine species, the issue…
MPA Perspective: Scientific Principles for Marine Reserve Systems
Editor’s note: Bill Ballantine, author of the following perspective piece, is a marine biologist at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland. He has advocated the concept of no-take marine reserves since the 1960s, and helped promote many of the 18 reserves in New Zealand waters. He was awarded a Goldman Prize in 1996 for his grassroots efforts in support of marine reserves. Ballantine is writing an extended version of this piece for a presentation he is scheduled to give at the Society of Conservation Biology meeting June 2003 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. By Bill Ballantine, Leigh Marine Laboratory Progress…
NGOs Enable Mexico to Purchase Islands for Conservation
In a transaction funded by an alliance of US and Mexican NGOs, the government of Mexico has acquired a 96-km2 group of islands in the Gulf of California, setting a precedent for private support of national protection efforts in the country, according to government officials. The US $3.3-million deal – led by the Mexican Foundation for Environmental Education (FUNDEA), The Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund – will bring the biodiverse islands under federal protection. Known locally as Isla Espiritu Santo, the largely uninhabited islands had faced the possibility of commercial development. Unlike most of the 900 islands in…