Abstracts. The numbers of MPAs in Indonesia have been significantly increased in the last ten years after declaration of the targeted 20 million hectares of MPAs in 2020 by President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Several MPAs have been... more
Abstracts. The numbers of MPAs in Indonesia have been significantly increased in the last ten years after declaration of the targeted 20 million hectares of MPAs in 2020 by President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Several MPAs have been designated and designed based on various indicators as conservation targets. It is important to make lesson learned how conservation targets were defined and incorporated in MPA design in Indonesia. The objectives of this study are to analyze the indicators and conservation targets that commonly used in the designation and the design of MPAs in Indonesia. Conservation targets in spatial planning of six MPAs and three MPA networks in Indonesia were analyzed using the relative frequency and frequency matrix analyses. We concluded that conservation target selection in spatial design of the six MPAs and three MPA networks in Indonesia were based on ecosystem approach which focused for conservation of coastal ecosystems.
In the Atlantic Arc there are 550 inshore and offshore Marine Protected Areas based on high diversity of objectives. Only 153 of them have a management plan --the basic tool needed for effective management. Amongst these, only 64 have... more
In the Atlantic Arc there are 550 inshore and offshore Marine Protected Areas based on high diversity of objectives. Only 153 of them have a management plan --the basic tool needed for effective management. Amongst these, only 64 have real management, i.e. they have staff and resources to operate the plan efficiently, on a daily basis.
A common characteristic of these MPAs is the lack of standardized indicators of their performance. In order to address this issue we developed an alternative approach based in the expert knowledge and perceptions of managers operating MPAs. To get this information we used questionnaires focused in: compliance with MPA objectives; compliance with management plan objectives; governance; budget; staff; control and enforcement; new incomes generated by new activities after MPA implementation; and socio-economic impact.
According to the managers' perception, MPA designations and management plans do not establish quantitative objectives (e.g. a percentage increase in the target species), but instead, they are predominantly qualitative (e.g. enhancement of fish stocks). Only 14 ot of 56 MPAs (25%) have both quantitative and qualitative objectives in their management plans, and half of them fail in the quantitative part. Qualitative objectives, on the other hand, are successfully achieved in the majority of 56 MPAs (85%). Additional results from this study unveil that 50% of the managers consider that the budget is not enough to cover all actions of the management plan and that 67% think they need more staff to pursue these actions. There is a general perception (80%) of a lack of socio-economic impact and a majority of the managers (45%) forsee eco-turism as a main target for planning new activities.
"The once pristine and rich marine environment of the South China Sea is degrading at an alarming rate due to the rapid socioeconomic development of the region. Despite this, and due mainly to complicated sovereignty and maritime... more
"The once pristine and rich marine environment of the South China Sea is degrading at an alarming rate due to the rapid socioeconomic development of the region. Despite this, and due mainly to complicated sovereignty and maritime disputes, coastal States have not been able to develop effective regional cooperation to safeguard the shared marine environment.
Marine Protected Areas Network in the South China Sea discusses legal and political measures to support the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. Such a network, if properly developed, would not only help to protect the marine environment and resources of the region but also contribute to decreasing the tension among its coastal States. These measures are suggested in accordance with international law, based on the specific geopolitical context of the South China Sea region and take into consideration experiences in developing regional networks of marine protected areas from other marine regions."
The main purpose of this paper is to provide an update about the development of a regional network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea as a way to protect its marine biodiversity and sustainably exploit its living resources... more
The main purpose of this paper is to provide an update about the development of a regional network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea as a way to protect its marine biodiversity and sustainably exploit its living resources and as the same time, to promote a peaceful and cooperative environment among its coastal States. Also, it explores the opportunity for Japan to contribute to peace and sustainability in the region by supporting initiatives to protect the marine environment of the South China Sea such as the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea in the undertaking of the country’s “Look South” policy.
Connectivity via larval dispersal is an important ingredient in setting effective marine reserve networks. Simple guidance for establishing spacing between individual protected sites can provide reliable rules of thumb to help ensure... more
Connectivity via larval dispersal is an important ingredient in setting effective marine reserve networks. Simple guidance for establishing spacing between individual protected sites can provide reliable rules of thumb to help ensure connectivity. Spacing rules for protected network design are relatively new to marine spatial planning, though so far they have been generically and indiscriminately applied to all types of habitats based on a single range of distance values. Here we address the extent to which such rules capture subtleties associated with dispersal distances varying among species in different regions and habitats. We applied a 50–100 km global spacing rule (SR glob), also recently applied in the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process and based on available global larval dispersal data, to a previously assessed network in the Gulf of California. Using larval dispersal data for species within this region (SR reg), we associated each species with eight unique habitats (SR hab*) and we evaluated connectivity by means of different spacing rules (SR glob , SR reg and SR hab*) using graph-theory. The existing spacing rule employed by the MLPA process (SR glob) was found to be robust and conservative when applied to the Gulf of California or to its different habitats (i.e., the lower limit for dispersal distance includes the distance for all species in the Gulf). We found that species in different habitats exhibit statistically distinct dispersal profiles. Therefore, some habitats could be evaluated with more relaxed spacing rules (i.e., larger distances), than those proposed by the rules of thumb. Our work identifies a conservation planning trade-off when implementing spacing rules: already proposed rules are robust but at the cost of efficiency. Habitat-specific spacing rules should be considered for more efficient marine conservation planning solutions.
