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Louisa Wood - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Global Marine Protection Targets: How S.M.A.R.T are They?
    Environmental Management, 2011
    Co-Authors: Louisa Wood
    Abstract:

    Global Marine Protection targets have been criticised for being ecologically irrelevant and often inadequate. However, they may also provide motivation for conservation action. However, no such targets have yet been met, and the health of the Marine environment has continued to deteriorate. The Tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recently adopted a new Marine Protection target, in October, 2010. As such, it is timely to critically assess the potential role of this and other global Marine Protection targets in conservation and Marine resource management. Three targets adopted in the past ten years were assessed using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timebound) framework. This assessment showed that the targets appear to have evolved to have become ‘SMARTer’ over time, particularly more Specific. The most recent CBD target also appears to be more Achievable than earlier targets. Three broad issues emerged that can inform the potential role, limitations, and challenges associated with global-scale Marine Protection targets: (i) that SMART target formulation, implementation, monitoring, and revision, is critically underpinned by relevant data and information; (ii) that perceived irrelevance of global targets may be at least partly due to a mismatch between the scale at which the targets were intended to operate, and the scale at which they have sometimes been assessed; and (iii) the primary role of global-scale targets may indeed be psychological rather than ecological. Recent progress indicates some success in this role, which could be built on with further ‘SMARTening’ of targets.

  • assessing progress towards global Marine Protection targets shortfalls in information and action
    Oryx, 2008
    Co-Authors: Louisa Wood, Lucy Fish, Josh Laughren, Daniel Pauly
    Abstract:

    Current global Marine Protection targets aim to protect 1030% of Marine habitats within the next 3 - -5 years. However, these targets were adopted without prior assessment of their achievability. Moreover, ability to moni- tor progress towards such targets has been constrained by a lack of robust data on Marine protected areas. Here we present the results of the first explicitly Marine-focused, global assessment of protected areas in relation to global Marine Protection targets. Approximately 2.35 million km 2 , 0.65% of the world's oceans and 1.6% of the total Marine area within Exclusive Economic Zones, are currently pro- tected. Only 0.08% of the world's oceans, and 0.2% of the total Marine area under national jurisdiction is no-take. The global distribution of protected areas is both uneven and unrepresentative at multiple scales, and only half of the world's Marine protected areas are part of a coherent network. Since 1984 the spatial extent of Marine area pro- tected globally has grown at an annual rate of 4.6%, at which even the most modest target is unlikely to be met for at least several decades rather than within the coming decade. These results validate concerns over the relevance and utility of broad conservation targets. However, given the low level of Protection for Marine ecosystems, a more immediate global concern is the need for a rapid increase in Marine protected area coverage. In this case, the process of comparing targets to their expected achievement dates may help to mobilize support for the policy shifts and increased resources needed to improve the current level of Marine Protection.

  • gis based multicriteria evaluation and fuzzy sets to identify priority sites for Marine Protection
    Biodiversity and Conservation, 2007
    Co-Authors: Louisa Wood, Suzana Dragicevic
    Abstract:

    There is an increasing momentum within the Marine conservation community to develop representative networks of Marine protected areas (MPAs) covering up to 30% of global Marine habitats. However, Marine conservation initiatives are perceived as uncoordinated at most levels of planning and decision-making. These initiatives also face the challenge of being in conflict with ongoing drives for sustained or increased resource extraction. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop large scale theoretical frameworks that explicitly address conflicting objectives that are embedded in the design and development of a global MPA network. Further, the frameworks must be able to guide the implementation of smaller scale initiatives within this global context. This research examines the applicability of an integrated spatial decision support framework based on geographic information systems (GIS), multicriteria evaluation (MCE) and fuzzy sets to objectively identify priority locations for future Marine Protection. MCE is a well-established optimisation method used extensively in land use resource allocation and decision support, and which has to date been underutilised in Marine planning despite its potential to guide such efforts. The framework presented here was implemented in the Pacific Canadian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) using two conflicting objectives - biodiversity conservation and fisheries profit-maximisation. The results indicate that the GIS-based MCE framework supports the objective identification of priority locations for future Marine Protection. This is achieved by integrating multi-source spatial data, facilitating the simultaneous combination of multiple objectives, explicitly including stakeholder preferences in the decisions, and providing visualisation capabilities to better understand how global MPA networks might be developed under conditions of uncertainty and complexity.

Markus Salomon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • challenges in cross sectoral Marine Protection in europe
    Marine Policy, 2013
    Co-Authors: Markus Salomon, Miriam Dross
    Abstract:

    Abstract Marine environment Protection in Europe faces a number of challenges. One is the coordination of relevant sectoral policies — such as agricultural and fisheries policies — with regard to Marine Protection objectives. The question in the following is on how Marine Protection issues can be more closely integrated in sectoral policies under the conditions prevailing at present. In particular the strength and weaknesses of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) as the key instrument for Marine environment Protection in Europe are analyzed in this context. In particular, the MSFD does not adequately address all sectors and policies which are relevant to Marine environment Protection. One possible means of giving the MSFD greater influences on other policies of relevance to Marine waters is to integrate the objectives established under the MSFD in the European maritime policy. The aim should be to require the further development of sectoral policies to take unrestricted account of the objectives of the MSFD implementation process. But also other instruments of Marine policy such as maritime spatial planning and Marine protected areas are crucial to advance the Protection of European seas.

  • recent european initiatives in Marine Protection policy towards lasting Protection for europe s seas
    Environmental Science & Policy, 2009
    Co-Authors: Markus Salomon
    Abstract:

    Abstract The seas and oceans are increasingly a focus of policy interest in Europe. This is mirrored in wide-ranging activities to manage and protect the Marine environment, which raises the question of whether such activities go towards developing sustainable management of the seas. Sustainable management calls for an integrated and cross-sectoral approach in order to protect highly valuable Marine biodiversity from sea- and land-based activities of all kinds. While some recent developments are fairly promising, there are still no moves on the policy agenda towards uniting all relevant European policy sectors – and particularly the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy – under the shared objective of sustainable management and Protection of the Marine environment and its resources.

Pablo Garciaborboroglu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Boris Worm - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Marine conservation how to heal an ocean
    Nature, 2017
    Co-Authors: Boris Worm
    Abstract:

    Marine protected areas are being implemented at an accelerating pace, and hold promise for restoring damaged ecosystems. But glaring shortfalls in staffing and funding often lead to suboptimal outcomes. See Article p.665 . Marine protected areas are proliferating quickly in the hope of safeguarding Marine resources. Here David Gill and colleagues show that inadequate staffing capacity is compromising the efficacy of Marine protected areas globally. They analyse fish biomass and management data for Marine protected areas around the world and find that, although 71% of these protected areas are benefiting fish populations, the effects are highly variable. Staff capacity was identified as the most important explanatory variable, accounting for around 19% of the variation in the benefits of Marine Protection. They suggest that continued expansion of Marine protected areas around the globe without adequate investment in human and financial capacity could limit Marine conservation outcomes.

Jutta Beher - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • simple rules can guide whether land or ocean based conservation will best benefit Marine ecosystems
    PLOS Biology, 2017
    Co-Authors: Megan I Saunders, Michael Bode, Scott Atkinson, Carissa J Klein, Anna Metaxas, Jutta Beher
    Abstract:

    Coastal Marine ecosystems can be managed by actions undertaken both on the land and in the ocean. Quantifying and comparing the costs and benefits of actions in both realms is therefore necessary for efficient management. Here, we quantify the link between terrestrial sediment runoff and a downstream coastal Marine ecosystem and contrast the cost-effectiveness of Marine-and land-based conservation actions. We use a dynamic land-and seascape model to determine whether limited funds should be directed to 1 of 4 alternative conservation actions-Protection on land, Protection in the ocean, restoration on land, or restoration in the ocean-to maximise the extent of light-dependent Marine benthic habitats across decadal timescales. We apply the model to a case study for a seagrass meadow in Australia. We find that Marine restoration is the most cost-effective action over decadal timescales in this system, based on a conservative estimate of the rate at which seagrass can expand into a new habitat. The optimal decision will vary in different social-ecological contexts, but some basic information can guide optimal investments to counteract land-and ocean-based stressors: (1) Marine restoration should be prioritised if the rates of Marine ecosystem decline and expansion are similar and low; (2) Marine Protection should take precedence if the rate of Marine ecosystem decline is high or if the adjacent catchment is relatively intact and has a low rate of vegetation decline; (3) land-based actions are optimal when the ratio of Marine ecosystem expansion to decline is greater than 1:1.4, with terrestrial restoration typically the most cost-effective action; and (4) land Protection should be prioritised if the catchment is relatively intact but the rate of vegetation decline is high. These rules of thumb illustrate how cost-effective conservation outcomes for connected land-ocean systems can proceed without complex modelling.