Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Over the past several years, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have realized that the creation of formal protected areas may not be sufficient to protect ocean and coastal biodiversity, particularly in areas where rights have already been granted to specific owners and users. To address this, NGOs are increasingly using Marine Conservation Agreements (MCAs) under varying forms of marine area governance. This approach includes any formal or informal understanding between two or more parties in which the parties obligate themselves, for an exchange of benefits, to take certain actions, refrain from certain actions, or transfer certain rights and responsibilities to achieve agreed-upon ocean or coastal conservation goals. NGOs can enter into MCAs with governments, indigenous groups, user groups, communities, private entities, and private individuals.

Common examples of MCAs include leases, licenses, easements, management agreements, purchase and sale agreements, concessions, and contracts. NGOs have used MCAs to help manage specific areas, harvesting methods, and access to resources. These efforts have protected important marine biodiversity while positioning NGOs as vested and solution-oriented stakeholders with governments and communities responsible for decision-making.

Private, for-profit entities routinely enter into agreements and acquire rights to marine areas and resources for a wide range of purposes such as marinas, utility lines, gravel mining, aquaculture, and oil extraction. Also, in many parts of the world, marine tenure systems are such that communities and fishing cooperatives have rights to marine areas. NGOs are now using these private models in collaboration with local communities and governments for purposes that improve and protect the marine environment, while generating concrete benefits for many local communities.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The World Database on Protected Areas- Marine (WDPA-Marine) is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive set of marine protected areas (MPAs) data available for conservation decision-making. With less than one percent of the oceans under legal protection, it is essential that practitioners, managers, national governments and others work together collectively to increase our progress toward global marine conservation. Thus, building capacity that enhances the flow of knowledge between marine biodiversity science and policy is paramount. Through this presentation, UNEP-WCMC plans to increase access to knowledge and tools that improve management of protected areas data and the link between this information and planning and political decisions. In the end, the WDPA-Marine will harmonize national processes for global monitoring and provide opportunities regarding how to access, compile, manage, analyze, and use protected areas data to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of establishing and managing successful networks of MPAs.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Declared nationally by the Minister of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Development in 2005, the Seaflower is Colombia’s first marine protected area (MPA) and the largest in the Caribbean. It covers 65,000 km2 and is divided into three administrative sections. CORALINA, the representative of Colombia’s National Environment System in the San Andres Archipelago, is responsible for management, which is carried out in cooperation with stakeholders. The MPA’s primary purpose is to preserve, maintain, and recover coastal and marine ecosystems and biodiversity; however, household surveys carried out during MPA planning revealed high rates of poverty (48%) and unemployment (53%). In such settings, to be effective conservation measures must be integrated with programs to alleviate poverty. Seaflower management has initiated a participatory process to identify and implement alternative livelihoods and sustainable practices to improve well-being and produce economic benefit. Community-based programs and MPA zoning support biodiversity conservation, while advancing sustainable use of marine resources to reduce local poverty, generate employment, and improve food security. Alternative livelihoods were identified in program areas such as artisanal fishing; watersports and ecotourism; aquaculture with value-added, family-based production; and land-based alternatives to reduce marine pollution and pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems. Programs diversify the local economy and offer income-generating alternatives to fishers, among others. In this way, Seaflower management also helps Colombia achieve the Millennium Development Goals, specifically MDG 1 to alleviate poverty and MDG 7 to conserve the environment. This paper examines the process, programs, and lessons learned to strengthen implementation and pinpoint future directions.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Marine protected areas (MPAs) and networks of MPAs are valuable tools for protecting coral reef habitats and managing near-shore fisheries. A growing number of MPA networks are being established to maintain ecosystem functions and connectivity, as well as to enhance resilience by spreading risk in the case of climate change or localized disasters. Since 2005, the United States Agency for International Development has supported a joint initiative of The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and Wildlife Conservation Society to build upon and draw key lessons from MPA Networks under the “Marine Learning Partnership.” As part of the final stage of the project (2007 – 2008) a small team examined six MPA networks in the Coral Triangle region. The study had the following objectives: (1) to understand challenges related to the design, management, monitoring and financing of networks of marine protected areas; (2) to address specific learning questions affecting marine conservation efforts, learn from each other’s experience, and collaborate with partners at the scale of MPA networks; and (3) to provide guidance and resources to direct recommendations for future research and improvements in MPA network planning, design and management to improve effectiveness of achieving network goals. The project objectives were met through field observations at the study sites, implementation of structured interviews with MPA managers and primary stakeholders, and two workshops. Findings reveal that substantial gaps between the theory and practice of creating functional MPA networks exist, across MPA sites and within the aspects of science and ecology, social management, institutional arrangements/governance and sustainable financing. To support the efforts of scaling up individual MPAs to networks, this project identifies a framework of best practices and guidelines that provide a basis to be tested and amended to local situations and needs of stakeholders.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing interests. We considered multiple commercial and recreational fisheries in the systematic design of a network of marine protected areas along California’s coast in the context of The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative. Three types of marine protected areas are under consideration, each with different levels of protection that allow varying degrees of extractive and non-extractive activities, ranging from no-take marine reserves (high protection) to conservation parks (low protection). With advice from managers, administrators, and scientists, a representative group of stakeholders defined biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic goals that accommodated social needs and conserved marine ecosystems, consistent with legal requirements.

Using a simulated annealing algorithm, we produce several possible zoning configurations that satisfied both biodiversity and socioeconomic goals and objectives. The zone assignments are driven by the fishing restrictions in each zone and are informed by fine-scale spatially explicit data on multiple commercial and recreational fisheries. Previous methods for systematically designing marine protected areas could not simultaneously consider multiple types of conservation zones and activities; they were limited to including or excluding a planning unit from a single type of zone (e.g. reserved or not reserved). We compare the effectiveness of marine protected area networks designed using our approach with these previous methods and conclude that design methods with the ability to consider multiple zones reduce the potential impact to the fisheries substantially more than design methods without consideration of multiple zones.