MPA News
MPA Science Corner: Most of remaining marine wilderness is not in MPAs yet – MPA success and failure – Reefs that could survive climate change – Inefficient MPAs – Making permit decisions for MPA research
These recent articles on MPA-related science and policy are all free to access. Article: Jones K. R. et al. “The Location and Protection Status of Earth’s Diminishing Marine Wilderness.” Current Biology (2018) [Editor’s note: this paper is temporarily free to access. However, the original manuscript will continue to be available for free at https://marxiv.org/azq53.] Finding: This study finds that just 13% of the global ocean could be considered wilderness – i.e., free of intense human impacts that threaten biodiversity. And less than 5% is both wilderness and currently in MPAs. Article: Giakoumi, S. et al. “Revisiting ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’ of Marine…
Notes & News: Meteorite lands in MPA – Belize – Canada – Krill closures – Insurers helping World Heritage – MPA readings – MPA News vault
Large meteorite lands in MPA Add this to the tasks of an MPA manager: What do you do when a large meteorite lands in your MPA? The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS), off the Pacific coast of the US, asked that question in March 2018 when a two-ton space rock flew into Earth’s atmosphere, became a giant fireball, broke up into countless pieces, and crashed into the MPA’s waters. The impact was detected on seismometers nearly 3000 km away. In what is believed to have been the world’s first hunt for a meteorite at sea, scientists from OCNMS and…
MPAs and marine litter: Snapshots of how sites are addressing the problem worldwide
Marine litter – and particularly its plastic component, commonly called ‘ocean plastic’ or ‘plastic pollution’ – is a hot topic now. Photos and television programs showing marine wildlife killed by plastic pollution have sparked public outcries. Governments are condemning ocean plastic, passing plastic bag bans and joining international coalitions to address it. Global campaigns are calling on consumers to reject single-use plastic products, like drink straws, and India has announced its plan to ban single-use plastics by 2022. A 2017 study determined that plastic pollution may now be the gateway to engaging the next generation of ocean conservationists. And the…
The Skimmer: A brief primer on marine litter and ocean plastics
The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific knowledge on marine litter and ocean plastics. It is based in part on a longer, more detailed article from November 2017 by MPA News’ affiliated service Marine Ecosystems and Management (MEAM). If you are interested in this topic, please note that OCTO – the organization that produces MPA News and MEAM – also runs the global discussion list on marine litter and ocean plastics: MarineDebris.Info. It is a thriving community. In April 2018, for example, there were over 170 member posts to the list. To subscribe to the MarineDebris.Info…
Perspective | The MPAs of Central America (second of three articles): Challenges faced, including the emergence of well-financed criminal groups
By Carlos A. Espinosa and Néstor J. Windevoxhel
The challenges facing coastal and marine protected areas in Central America remain as serious as ever. And in some ways they are getting worse.
From the editor: Why MPA News said large MPAs were a necessity to meet Aichi Target 11
In last month’s MPA News, we examined the ongoing debate over the value of large vs. small MPAs: whether MPA designations should focus on large offshore sites or smaller inshore ones. This debate has been going on for many years, and we’ve reported on aspects of it several times. In the introduction to the article, I inserted the statement that “if the world is to reach Aichi Target 11 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (that 10% of marine areas are effectively conserved by 2020) […] then large MPAs are a necessity.” That statement was criticized by some readers who felt…
MPA Training in a Nutshell: On building MPA social networks
By Anne Nelson
The effective management of MPA networks requires an array of elements. These include having adequate technical capacity of site managers, good science, committed leadership at multiple levels (sites, agencies, and policy makers), shared goals among MPAs, and monitoring of the network’s ecological effectiveness.
Importantly, it also requires good connectivity among site managers – in other words, a social network.
MPA Science Corner: Impact of human activity on coral reef MPAs – Questioning large open-ocean MPAs – Questioning calculations of global MPA coverage
These recent articles or preprints on MPA-related science and policy are all free to access. Article: Suchley, A. & Alvarez-Filip, L. “Local human activities limit marine protection efficacy on Caribbean coral reefs.” Conservation Letters e12571 (2018) Finding: This study of seven coral reef MPAs and nearby unprotected areas in the Mexican Caribbean – a region with burgeoning coastal development in recent decades – found that coral cover was positively related to protected status, but was significantly lower at sites near elevated local human activity. The authors call on policy makers to acknowledge the impact of uncontrolled coastal development on corals…
Notes & News: Volcano – Malta – Chile – UK – New Zealand – Great Barrier Reef – WCC – Stamp contest winners – MPA News vault
Volcano fills in MPA with lava A small, inshore, no-take MPA in the US state of Hawai‘i has been covered up by lava from ongoing volcanic eruptions on the archipelago’s Big Island. The 0.2-km2 Wai’opae Tidepools Marine Life Conservation District was designated in 2003, and was popular with snorkelers and swimmers. Now it is covered by lava rock. Hundreds of nearby homes were also destroyed by the lava flow. For before/after satellite photos of the MPA, click MPAtlas’s coverage here. For helicopter footage of the lava flow meeting the sea, click here. Malta expands MPA coverage The percentage of Malta’s…
The Big Picture: The continuing debate over the value of large vs. small MPAs, and what it means for the field
An opinion piece published in the New York Times in March 2018 – “Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation” – raised anew the issue of whether MPA designations should focus on large offshore sites or smaller inshore ones. The author, Luiz Rocha of the California Academy of Sciences, called the trend of designating large offshore MPAs disturbing, and recommended such protection should not come before coastal waters are secured. This criticism of large offshore MPAs is not the first published, nor likely the last. The main criticism of large offshore MPAs is usually that they protect areas where current…