MPA News
“Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas”: Using a Comprehensive Planning Tool to Protect Habitats from Shipping
Roughly 80% of international trade is carried by ship. Such traffic carries the risk of groundings, collisions, spills, and other incidents that threaten the ecological health of marine systems. The associated hazards to habitats and wildlife can pose a persistent concern for managers of marine protected areas, particularly those near major ports or shipping routes. In several cases around the world, MPA practitioners have moved to reduce these threats by implementing focused regulatory instruments, such as shipping lanes, areas to be avoided, or discharge restrictions. But a broader, higher-profile tool remains available – the international designation of sites as Particularly…
Gaps to Be Addressed in Management: Advice from Caribbean MPAs
Last November at the 54th annual meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, scientists and MPA practitioners convened a workshop to discuss the role of socioeconomic concerns in successful MPAs. Titled “Human System Connectivity: A Need for MPA Management Effectiveness”, the workshop addressed gaps in the management of Caribbean MPAs, namely in the development of manager and stakeholder capacity and inter-group communication. Participants, including resource users and NGOs, said filling these gaps would help MPAs to achieve their goals of protection and sustainable resource use. The workshop report provides a list of tips for how practitioners can fill such…
MPA Perspective: Ways to Ensure Marine Reserves Get a Fair Test
By Brock Bernstein, National Fisheries Conservation Center
I know a fisherman who doesn't think marine reserves are needed. He's skeptical of their ability to improve fishery yields and says he just wishes they'd go away. In spite of that, he's willing to contribute his knowledge to help improve their design and lessen their immediate impacts on fishermen. But like many others who share both his point of view and his deep knowledge of the ocean, he has been frustrated by a welter of problems that leave fishermen feeling marginalized and even targeted as the movement toward marine reserves gains momentum.
Letters from Readers
Last month, MPA News printed two letters suggesting the IUCN definition of “marine protected area” was too loose to be truly useful (MPA News 3:7). These letters, in turn, prompted responses from individuals who were instrumental in the development of the IUCN definition. Their letters appear below. Dear MPA News: I’d like to refer to the debate regarding the definition of an MPA. This term is intended by IUCN to be a general one, describing areas that are subject to various levels of protection. It is directly and intentionally analogous to the IUCN definition of a “protected area”. Readers of…
Notes and News
Cocos Island update: Poacher fined, forfeits ship In a decision handed down by the supreme court of Costa Rica, the owners of an Ecuadorian longliner, caught in August 2001 fishing illegally in the country’s Cocos Island National Park (MPA News 3:4), have been fined US$290,000 for the infraction and have had to forfeit the vessel to authorities. This marks the first time the country has applied vessel forfeiture as a penalty for poaching. The court also sentenced the captain of the vessel, the San Jose I, to a multi-year jail term. The vessel was apprehended last year by a patrol…
Managing Water Quality in MPAs: How Practitioners Are Handling the Challenges
The quality of water in a marine protected area plays a major role in the health of that site’s underwater ecosystems. MPAs near urban centers or agricultural lands can suffer from runoff of wastes, fertilizers, and other materials that degrade or otherwise alter natural systems. Floating garbage can accumulate in protected areas. Oil from drilling and transport carries the chronic problem of leakage and the threat of spills. While the global MPA discussion often focuses on extractive activities and their management, threats to water quality can pose just as great a challenge for MPA practitioners. This month, MPA News examines…
MPA Perspective: Advice for Promoting Participation of Authorities and Stakeholders in MPA Planning
Note from the editor: Peter Jones, author of the perspective piece below, is a lecturer in coastal and estuarine management at the University College London (UCL), UK. In recent conservation agency funded research, he and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of participatory planning processes for marine protected areas in the UK. Lessons drawn from these processes may be of general interest to MPA practitioners elsewhere, and reflect the importance of building trust and confidence among participating groups.
Jones adapted the piece below from a paper he co-wrote with Jacquie Burgess and Darren Bhattachary of the Environment and Society Research Unit, UCL ("An Evaluation of Approaches for Promoting Relevant Authority and Stakeholder Participation in European Marine Sites in the UK: Final Report to the UK Marine SACs Project", September 2001. E-mail p.j.jones@ucl.ac.uk for a summary of the report).
From the Editor: Definitions
Dear Reader: An article in the December 2001/January 2002 issue of MPA News — “Results from the Reader Challenge: Which MPA is the Oldest?” — sparked responses (including those below) from readers who questioned the definition the newsletter used for “marine protected area”. They felt the definition was too broad to be useful. The definition used for the challenge was that of the IUCN (World Conservation Union), which describes a marine protected area as “an area of intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law…
Letters from Readers
[The letters below are in response to an article in last month‘s MPA News, “Results from the Reader Challenge: Which MPA is the Oldest?” The article named the Royal National Park, in New South Wales, Australia, as the oldest marine protected area in the world.] Dear MPA News: In New South Wales, there are currently 42 national parks and nature reserves with recognized marine/estuarine components. All, including the Royal National Park, are reserved under the National Parks & Wildlife Act 1974. This legislation provides for protection of animals, terrestrial vegetation and substrata, but does not directly protect fish, marine invertebrates…
Notes and News
Correction Last month’s issue (MPA News 3:6) incorrectly reported the date by which a draft operations plan for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve would be available for public comment. The draft operations plan is expected to be available in February 2002. Also in February, the US National Marine Sanctuary Program is expected to begin a scoping process to solicit public input on designating the reserve as a national marine sanctuary. For more information, go to the official website of the reserve at http://hawaiireef.noaa.gov. Representative Areas Program The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), which oversees Australia’s…