manolitovaldes pizzini's Bookmarks tagged MPA-AMP →  View Popular

The new draft plan, a major revision to the sanctuary’s original management plan published in 1993, focuses on key issues affecting the sanctuary, including ecosystem alteration, wildlife disturbance, vessel traffic and its potential threat to marine mammals, water quality and invasive species.

The plan also addresses important sanctuary programs such as maritime heritage preservation, conservation science, enforcement, interagency cooperation, public outreach and education, and infrastructure development. No changes to sanctuary regulations are proposed in this draft plan.

“This plan is centered on the need to manage marine resources for biodiversity conservation,” said sanctuary superintendent Craig MacDonald. “This is an evolving approach that stresses the management of the entire sanctuary ecosystem, including all biological communities, habitats and species populations, together with compatible human uses.”

Periodic management plan review is required by Congress for each of the 13 national marine sanctuaries to ensure that they continue to conserve, protect and enhance their nationally significant living and cultural resources while allowing compatible commercial and recreational activities.

The Science of Marine Reserves

In 2007, PISCO updated The Science of Marine Reserves booklet, originally published in 2002. The booklet is now presented in two versions: a U.S. version in English and an international version in English. The booklets are accompanied by a 15-minute video first released in 2002.

These resources provide the latest scientific information about reserves in an understandable and accessible format. They are designed to be used by natural resource managers, government officials, scientists, and the interested public. To view the video by segment or a PDF version of the U.S. booklet, international booklet, or 2002 booklet, please click on the links below.

These resources provide the latest scientific information about reserves in an understandable and accessible format. They are designed to be used by natural resource managers, government officials, scientists, and the interested public.

To download a PDF version of the U.S. booklet, international booklet, Latin American and Caribbean booklet, or 2002 booklet, please click on the links below. Accompanying links also allow you to download the booklet graphics and view the video by segment.

To receive your own hard copies of The Science of Marine Reserves booklets, please contact Kirsten Grorud-Colvert or Satie Airame.

Protected Areas Management Effectiveness:

"the assessment of how well the protected area is being managed – primarily the extent to which it is protecting values and achieving goals and objectives (Hockings et al., 2006, p.xiii)"

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAM OF WORK ON PROTECTED AREAS

In February of 2004, 188 countries committed to the Convention on Biological Diversity's “Program of Work on Protected Areas,” an ambitious set of 92 activities aimed at establishing and maintaining comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative national and regional terrestrial protected area systems by 2010 and marine systems by 2012.  As part of their commitment to this Program of Work, signatory countries are undertaking a variety of ecological, management, policy and financial assessments within their protected area systems.  This website is intended to provide the tools, methods, materials and case studies needed to conduct the assessments included in the Program of Work on Protected Areas, and to help provide guidance on how to implement the results.  

MAJOR THEMES AND CORRESPONDING ACTIONS IN THE PROGRAM OF WORK

There are 4 elements, 16 targets and 92 actions in the Program of Work on Protected Areas.  Each of these actions can be organized into a set of key themes.  The list below shows these key themes, and the corresponding action of the Program of Work.  Click on each link to find an overview description of the theme and related resources, including articles, tools, manuals, presentations and case studies. For an overview summary of all of the actions of the Program of Work, click here.

Linking Poverty Reduction and Marine Protected Areas

The groundbreaking study, led by an economist from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and an independent social scientist, was conducted at four separate locations in the Pacific:

• 
  
  Navakavu, Fiji
  
  
• Bunaken, Indonesia
  
• Arnavon Islands, Solomon Islands
  
• Apo Island, the Philippines

An MPA is an area of ocean or coastal water that is recognized by both government and society as having specific conservation value. Measures are put in place to preserve the quality of marine life that can include restricted access for fishing, diving and other potentially harmful activities.

MPAs are a key component of the Conservancy’s strategy to conserve ocean and coastal habitats. We work to identify, protect and restore some of most resilient examples of healthy ocean and coastal habitats in ways that benefit marine life, coastal communities and economies. Our global effort includes protecting unique underwater landscapes such as Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea and the Florida Keys. The sites for this study were deliberately chosen because local experts believed marine conservation efforts there had contributed to poverty reduction.

“By focusing on potentially positive examples, we aimed to identify key factors for success that could be replicated elsewhere,” explains Craig Leisher, co-author of the report and a senior policy advisor for the Conservancy.

Working in partnership with local non-governmental organizations and universities, the researchers talked to over 1,100 local people about the changes they had seen in their quality of life since the creation of the nearby marine protected areas. Across the four sites, there was clear evidence that poverty had been reduced by several factors:

Saving for the Future

“The marine protected area is like a bank to the people,” noted a Fijian community leader.  By conserving marine resources, people will reap higher returns in the future. The study findings demonstrate that opening more branches of the “bank” in developing countries can contribute to coastal poverty reduction.

Research into four successful schemes showed that getting villagers involved in protection projects reduced harmful overfishing and protected incomes.