by John Davis | Jun 18, 2020
By Catherine Piante
The PHAROS4MPAs project, coordinated by WWF over the past two years, has explored how Mediterranean MPAs are affected by several maritime sectors, and how the environmental impacts of those sectors can be prevented or minimized.
The sectors studied were maritime transport, offshore windfarms, cruises, leisure boating, small-scale commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, and marine aquaculture. The project has released a set of practical recommendations – excerpted below – for MPA managers, maritime spatial planning (MSP) authorities, and businesses.
by John Davis | Jun 18, 2020
Scientists invited to sign letter supporting 30×30 target for MPAs
Over 100 marine scientists have already signed a letter calling on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to set a target to safeguard 30% of the ocean in a network of “highly or fully protected, well-managed MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures” by 2030. The letter, coordinated by Marine Conservation Institute, remains open for more signatories as of this writing (mid-June 2020). To read the letter and add your signature, click here.
by John Davis | May 7, 2020
With first-hand reports from ten MPA practitioners worldwide:
- We must be laser-focused on actions to keep our institutions and work afloat, by Nirmal Jivan Shah
- Adapting on the fly to staffing and program challenges, by Emma Doyle
- MPA monitoring organization loses its volunteers and financial base, by Alan Kavanagh
- Long-term financial management of Dutch Caribbean MPAs will need to change, by Kalli De Meyer
- This is an opportunity for governments to help fishermen support MPAs, by Javier Corcuera Quiroga
- Success of MPAs depends on support from stakeholders, whose priorities may be changing, by Özkan Anil
- MPA that relies on yacht tourism revenue is optimistic for a rebound, by Joseph Ierna, Jr.
- Conducting fish surveys during this quiet time to understand the impact of people on MPAs, by Ruthy Yahel and Simon Nemtzov
- Partnering with law enforcement for increased patrols, by Claire Arre
- This challenge is likely to be harder than any before, by Sibylle Riedmiller
by John Davis | May 7, 2020
Journal article
MPA cases
- How researchers are studying the 0.4-km2 Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawai`i, where daily visitation has dropped from 3000 people a day to zero – click here
- How the pandemic has led to an increase in zoning offenses in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – click here
- How the collapse in cruise ship business has upended the budget for Glacier Bay National Park in the US – click here
- How one MPA, Chumbe Island Coral Park in Zanzibar, has set up a crowdfunding campaign to help support it through this time – click here
by John Davis | May 7, 2020
These recent articles on MPA-related science and policy are all free to access.
Article: Gownaris, N.J. et al. Gaps in protection of important ocean areas: a spatial meta-analysis of ten global mapping initiatives. Frontiers in Marine Science 6:650 (2019).
Finding: There have been numerous initiatives led by UN agencies or NGOs to map globally important marine areas, with each initiative applying its own set of criteria. This study is the first to overlay these initiatives, quantify consensus among them, and conduct gap analyses at a global scale. It finds that 55% of the ocean has been identified as important by one or more initiatives, and that individual areas have been identified by as many as seven overlapping initiatives.
