IUCN Charts Course for Protected Ocean Networks

IUCN Charts Course for Protected Ocean Networks



   
April 2007 -   Connecting marine 
reserves into larger networks will make marine species and 
ecosystems more resistant to climate change, overfishing and 
pollution, many ocean scientists agree, but making it happen 
can be difficult. Today, a new guide for establishing marine 
protected area networks was released at the IUCN Marine 
Protected Area Summit in Washington, DC. 
Some 50 marine experts and conservationists have gathered at 
the invitation-only Summit to strategize on bringing the world 
from today, when most countries and regions have just started 
to develop a few small marine protected areas to a time when 
over 20 to 30 percent of oceans and seas are safeguarded in 
protected areas. The coastal area of Belize features the largest
 barrier reef 
in the Northern Hemisphere. It is protected as a UNESCO World 
Heritage site. 
The new guide, "Establishing Networks of Marine Protected 
Areas – Making It Happen," is intended as a chart to help 
planners navigate that distance. 
The guide is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, NOAA, in collaboration with the IUCN World 
Commission on Protected Areas, the Great Barrier Reef Marine 
Park Authority, the World Wildlife Fund–Australia, and The 
Nature Conservancy. 
"Better protecting our oceans is essential for tackling 
climate change," said Dan Laffoley, marine vice chair of the 
World Commission on Protected Areas. 
"Our oceans play a fundamental role in shaping and regulating 
our climate, and yet today, only one percent of our oceans are 
protected. Marine protected areas are vital in promoting the 
recovery of our oceans and in supporting the survival of 
millions of people living by the sea over the coming century," 
Laffoley said. 
Eight criteria for establishing marine protected areas, MPAs, 
are given in the new guide - representativeness, replication, 
viability, precautionary design, permanence, maximum 
connectivity, resilience, size and shape. 
"It is unrealistic to expect that building MPA networks can be 
achieved in a single step," the guide says. "Instead, planners 
should expect to develop a gradual strategy for implementing a 
full network, slow the loss of endangered marine species, and 
restore depleted fisheries." 
Marine protected areas, such as this marine preserve in Guam, 
are a tool for coral reef conservation. 
Primary considerations include "feasibility, affordability, 
public understanding and protecting areas most vulnerable to 
impact from human activities." 
Key to the entire process, the guide stresses, is political 
will, and developing this will requires involving stakeholders 
from the very beginning in an open, participatory process. 
The participation of all types of groups is encouraged - from 
indigenous community meetings led by traditional leaders, to 
government-sponsored opportunities for information sharing and 
comment, to intergovernmental planning meetings. And at the 
planning stage, compliance and enforcement considerations 
should be built into the process. 
But time is short, and the target date is just five years 
away. 
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, the IUCN World 
Commission on Protected Areas, the Convention on Biological 
Diversity, and the G8 Group of Nations have called for 
establishing a global system of Marine Protected Area networks 
by the year 2012. 
But before the goal of 2012 is even understood by most 
countries, it appears to have been outdated by new pressures 
upon ocean resources. 
The draft challenge under discussion at the Summit today 
states that, "Climate change, surface ocean acidification, 
fisheries with new gear types expanding away from depleted 
coastal margins to exploit the High Seas, marine-based 
renewable energy sources, carbon free energy generation 
systems injecting captured carbon dioxide into the seabed, and 
escalating fuel prices are all now major drivers for 
significant change." 
In 1998 a bleaching event struck the corals of the Rangiroa 
Atoll in French Polynesia that was so severe it could be seen 
from space. 
The pressure of climate change is particularly challenging, 
but governments are already adapting to it, the draft says. 
"We see the beginnings of a new world order arising, with 
strong legislative and political processes bringing nations 
together in fresh alliances, particularly geared to tackle the 
economic impacts of climate change," the draft challenge 
states. 
"Governments and the conservation community need to step up 
marine protection if we are to support the global effort to 
tackle climate change," said IUCN Director General Julia 
Marton-Lefèvre as the Summit opened on Tuesday. 
Tomorrow, at the close of the Summit, participants will 
finalize the challenge, identifying priorities for action for 
the marine community and governments around the world. 
The statement that "the MPA target for 2012, once seen as the 
goal, must now be viewed as the minimum," is likely to top the 
list of priorities. 
The Summit will also launch a new tool for increasing 
understanding of how well oceans are protected. Called the 
"Wet List," this annual report will track the progress being 
made in marine conservation, and help the global community 
rise to the challenges. 
The Wet List will take the form of an annually produced, 
Internet-based global overview, supported by 18 Internet-based 
regional reviews. It will also be published as a single hard 
copy report. 
The data to support these reports and analyses will be 
furnished by the continuously updated database of MPAs - the 
World Database on Protected Areas - a joint project of IUCN's 
World Commission on Protected Areas and the UNEP World 
Conservation Monitoring Centre, which is the custodian of the 
database. 
To view the guide, "Establishing Networks of Marine Protected 
Areas – Making It Happen," click here. 
The United States is developing a national system of marine 
protected areas. To find out more click here. 

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