MPA's

MPA's

1. USES OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT

   • Use of marine environment increasing as Earth's finite resources are used up on land
     • Oil and Gas, Fishing, Aggregates, Wind Farms, Cables, Transport, Disposal of Waste, Recreation
   • Some areas used more than others
   • Can still fish in MPA's, the term means different things to different people
     • Even a "no take zone" usually means that just bottom trawling is not allowed

2. MANAGEMENT OF MARINE ENVIRONMENT

   • Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) - UKBAP (10%) OSPAR Convention (30%) EC Habitats and Birds Directives NATURA zoo Network, SACS
     • Marine and Coastal Access Act - establishment of MCZ's
       • Spacial Area Management Networks
       • "Enables" designation of MPA's, not requires
     • Every one of these calls for protected areas
     • Marine management organisation of UK
     • CBD and OSPAR both recommend to establish by 2020 a network or system of MPA'S
     • World Summit of Sustainable Development
       • agreed to establish MPA's representative networks - protect examples of everything not just endangered things
     • Suggested network of MPA's in North Sea - heavily used area
   • Need an ecologically coherent and representative network of MPA's
     • Important that areas are connected, populations not isolated.
     • Recommended that 30% of UK's EEZ established as no take reserves closed to commercial fishing
       • This will conserve 70% of species - using species accumulation curves
         • This will maintain ecosystem function - some niches redundant, if a dominant species is lost another will take its place
         • Will still lose rare species, what is the conservation objective?

3. IUCN (World Conservation Union) sets definition

   • Basically an area of sea that has some protection
     • Divides protected areas into 6 types offering different levels of protection. Depends on objectives