Forests are under increasing pressure globally and the establishment of protected areas has long been used as a conservation tool to preserve them. Seven categories of protected areas have been ...defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with different management objectives and protection levels. However, recent studies raised questions over whether protected areas are effective in preventing ecosystem degradation and whether IUCN categories vary in their effectiveness. In this study, we analysed forest loss and trends between 2001 and 2014 within IUCN protected areas at a global scale and within sixteen Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem services (IPBES) subregions, relevant for international policy. As habitat protection can be driven by the location of protected areas and as the amount of forest within protected sites is highly unequal, we reported the forest loss integrating the proximity of roads and population, as well as the amount of initial forest in 2000. Our results show that worldwide, the highest protection categories experienced less forest loss than those allowing more human intervention, although this result was reversed in three IPBES subregions. Moreover, in four subregions there was more forest loss within protected areas than outside. We also found accelerating rates of forest loss in protected areas across all IUCN categories, more pronounced in the highest protection IUCN categories. Our results highlight the importance of moving the discussion of the post-2020 biodiversity framework for protected areas beyond simple general areal targets and that areas with poor implementation effectiveness should benefit from additional support.
Marine spatial planning that addresses ocean climate‐driven change (‘climate‐smart MSP’) is a global aspiration to support economic growth, food security and ecosystem sustainability. Ocean climate ...change (‘CC’) modelling may become a key decision‐support tool for MSP, but traditional modelling analysis and communication challenges prevent their broad uptake. We employed MSP‐specific ocean climate modelling analyses to inform a real‐life MSP process; addressing how nature conservation and fisheries could be adapted to CC. We found that the currently planned distribution of these activities may become unsustainable during the policy's implementation due to CC, leading to a shortfall in its sustainability and blue growth targets. Significant, climate‐driven ecosystem‐level shifts in ocean components underpinning designated sites and fishing activity were estimated, reflecting different magnitudes of shifts in benthic versus pelagic, and inshore versus offshore habitats. Supporting adaptation, we then identified: CC refugia (areas where the ecosystem remains within the boundaries of its present state); CC hotspots (where climate drives the ecosystem towards a new state, inconsistent with each sectors’ present use distribution); and for the first time, identified bright spots (areas where oceanographic processes drive range expansion opportunities that may support sustainable growth in the medium term). We thus create the means to: identify where sector‐relevant ecosystem change is attributable to CC; incorporate resilient delivery of conservation and sustainable ecosystem management aims into MSP; and to harness opportunities for blue growth where they exist. Capturing CC bright spots alongside refugia within protected areas may present important opportunities to meet sustainability targets while helping support the fishing sector in a changing climate. By capitalizing on the natural distribution of climate resilience within ocean ecosystems, such climate‐adaptive spatial management strategies could be seen as nature‐based solutions to limit the impact of CC on ocean ecosystems and dependent blue economy sectors, paving the way for climate‐smart MSP.
Ocean climate change (‘CC’) modelling may become a key decision‐support tool for marine spatial planning (‘MSP’), but traditional modelling analysis and communication challenges prevent their broad uptake. Here, ocean CC modelling is used as input to a statistical method testing whether a climate signal emerges in the ecosystem conditions, resources and natural capital underpinning each MSP sector of interest, within the time‐frame of implementation of a real‐life plan. Identifying the distribution of climate change hotspots, bright spots and climate refugia in the ecosystem underpinning each sector allows for climate‐adaptive spatial management strategies to be developed, supporting sustainability aims alongside blue growth.
To contribute to the aspirations of recent international biodiversity conventions, protected areas (PAs) must be strategically located and not simply established on economically marginal lands as ...they have in the past. With refined international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity to target protected areas in places of "importance to biodiversity," perhaps they may now be. We analyzed location biases in PAs globally over historic (pre-2004) and recent periods. Specifically, we examined whether the location of protected areas are more closely associated with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species or with areas of low agricultural opportunity costs. We found that both old and new protected areas did not target places with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species. Instead, they appeared to be established in locations that minimize conflict with agriculturally suitable lands. This entrenchment of past trends has substantial implications for the contributions these protected areas are making to international commitments to conserve biodiversity. If protected-area growth from 2004 to 2014 had strategically targeted unrepresented threatened vertebrates, >30 times more species (3086 or 2553 potential vs. 85 actual new species represented) would have been protected for the same area or the same cost as the actual expansion. With the land available for conservation declining, nations must urgently focus new protection on places that provide for the conservation outcomes outlined in international treaties. Para contribuir con las aspiraciones de las recientes convenciones internacionales por la biodiversidad, las áreas protegidas (APs) deben estar ubicadas estratégicamente y no establecidas simplemente en tierras marginadas económicamente como ha sido en el pasado. Con compromisos internacionales refinados bajo la Convención por la Diversidad Biológica para enfocarse en áreas protegidas en lugares de "importancia para la biodiversidad", tal vez las APs ya sean así. Analizamos los sesgos de ubicación de las APs a nivel mundial a través de periodos históricos (antes del 2004) y recientes. En específico, examinamos si la ubicación de las áreas protegidas está asociada más cercanamente con concentraciones altas de especies de vertebrados amenazadas o con áreas de bajo costos de oportunidad agrícola. Encontramos que tanto las áreas protegidas nuevas como las viejas no se enfocaban en lugares con alta concentración de especies de vertebrados amenazadas. En su lugar, parece que están establecidos en localidades que minimizan el conflicto con tierras adecuadas para la agricultura. Este ajuste de las tendencias pasadas tiene implicaciones sustanciales para las contribuciones que estas áreas protegidas están haciendo para los compromisos internacionales para conservar la biodiversidad. Si el crecimiento de las áreas protegidas de 2004 a 2014 se hubiera enfocado estratégicamente en los vertebrados amenazados poco representados, >30 veces más especies (3086 ó 2553 potenciales vs. 85 especies nuevas actuales representadas) habrían sido protegidas por la misma área o al mismo costo que la expansión actual. Con la declinación del suelo disponible para la conservación, los países deben enfocar urgentemente la nueva protección en sitios que proporcionen para los resultados de conservación resaltados en los tratados internacionales.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) cover 3–7% of the world's ocean, and international organizations call for 30% coverage by 2030. Although numerous studies show that MPAs produce conservation benefits ...inside their borders, many MPAs are also justified on the grounds that they confer conservation benefits to the connected populations that span beyond their borders. A network of MPAs covering roughly 20% of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary was established in 2003, with a goal of providing regional conservation and fishery benefits. We used a spatially explicit bioeconomic simulation model and a Bayesian difference‐in‐difference regression to examine the conditions under which MPAs can provide population‐level conservation benefits inside and outside their borders and to assess evidence of those benefits in the Channel Islands. As of 2017, we estimated that biomass densities of targeted fin‐fish had a median value 81% higher (90% credible interval: 23–148) inside the Channel Island MPAs than outside. However, we found no clear effect of these MPAs on mean total biomass densities at the population level: estimated median effect was –7% (90% credible interval: –31 to 23) from 2015 to 2017. Our simulation model showed that effect sizes of MPAs of <30% were likely to be difficult to detect (even when they were present); smaller effect sizes (which are likely to be common) were even harder to detect. Clearly, communicating expectations and uncertainties around MPAs is critical to ensuring that MPAs are effective. We provide a novel assessment of the population‐level effects of a large MPA network across many different species of targeted fin‐fish, and our results offer guidance for communities charged with monitoring and adapting MPAs.
Resumen
Las áreas marinas protegidas (AMPs) cubren entre 3–7% de los océanos del planeta y las organizaciones internacionales piden una cobertura del 30% para el 2030. Aunque numerosos estudios muestran que las AMPs producen beneficios de conservación dentro de sus límites, muchas de estas áreas también están justificadas por otorgarles beneficios de conservación a las poblaciones conectadas que abarcan más allá de sus fronteras. Una red de AMPs que cubre aproximadamente el 20% del Santuario Marino Nacional de las Islas del Canal fue establecida en 2003 con el objetivo de proporcionar beneficios para la conservación y las pesquerías regionales. Usamos un modelo de simulación bioeconómica espacialmente explícito y una regresión bayesiana de diferencia‐en‐diferencia para examinar las condiciones bajo las que las AMPs pueden proporcionar beneficios de conservación a nivel poblacional dentro y fuera de sus límites y para evaluar las evidencias de esos beneficios en las Islas del Canal. Hasta el 2017, estimamos que la densidad de la biomasa de los peces focalizados tuvo un valor medio de 81% (90% intervalo creíble 23–148) dentro de las AMPs de las Islas del Canal que fuera de ellas. Sin embargo, no encontramos un efecto claro de estas AMPs sobre la densidad de biomasa total promedio a nivel poblacional; el efecto medio estimado fue de ‐7% (90% intervalo creíble ‐31 ‐ 23) entre 2015 y 2017. Nuestro modelo de simulación mostró que los tamaños del efecto de las AMPs menores al 30% tenían mayor probabilidad de ser difíciles de detectar (incluso cuando estaban presentes); los tamaños de efecto más pequeños (que es probable que sean comunes) fueron incluso más difíciles de detectar. Claramente, es muy importante comunicar las expectativas e incertidumbres en torno a las AMPs para asegurar que éstas sean efectivas. Proporcionamos una evaluación novedosa de los efectos a nivel poblacional de una red extensa de AMPs para muchas especies de peces focalizados y nuestros resultados ofrecen una guía para las comunidades encargadas de monitorear y adaptar las AMPs.
Article impact statement: Population‐level conservation effects of marine protected areas are likely to be extremely challenging to measure and detect.
Marine protected areas have been scaling up from small areas located in coastal waters to large‐scale marine protected areas in remote areas, partly in response to the international agenda to ...conserve 10% of marine and coastal areas.
Chile has made considerable progress in the designation of large‐scale marine protected areas in its oceanic islands with varying degrees of top‐down and bottom‐up processes, scientific knowledge and interplay among institutions.
The process of designating the multiple‐uses marine protected area in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) involved interplay among scientific research, capacity building, local knowledge and collaboration between sectors, which contributed to the community transformation toward marine conservation in Rapa Nui.
A recent increase in scientific research on the marine ecosystems was transmitted to stakeholders and the local community via capacity‐building actions. The knowledge‐based empowerment of the Rapanui population (inhabitants of Rapa Nui) involved the definition not only of the objectives, the extension and the conservation goals of the Rapa Nui multiple‐uses marine protected area, but also of the implications beyond the designation, such as issues of governance, management and financing.
The implementation of the Rapa Nui multiple‐uses marine protected area will test local and Rapanui government relationships. The continuous science‐knowledge‐based dialogue in a strengthened relationship between the government and the local community in a ‘process of relating’ might be the pathway to future effective conservation efforts and successes.
Oceanic marine protected areas (MPAs) that are close to the litter accumulation zones in the subtropical gyres receive large amounts of plastic litter, both as micro‐ and as macroplastics.
The ...macro‐litter accumulating on the islands in the Easter Island Ecoregion (Rapa Nui and Salas y Gómez) can be traced back to the high seas industrial fishery operating in the South Pacific.
Seabirds nesting in the MPAs in the South Pacific are affected by both microplastic ingestion and macroplastic in their nests, but there was no evidence of entangled birds.
Conservation of seabirds (and other species) in these oceanic MPAs requires efficient measures to reduce plastic contamination in the ocean.
Observations made in the South Pacific coincide with those from other oceanic MPAs, calling for global actions.
The number of marine protected areas (MPAs) has grown exponentially worldwide over the past decade in order to meet international targets. Most of these protected areas allow extraction of resources ...and are therefore designated as "partially protected areas" (PPAs). However, the effectiveness of PPAs remains unclear due to the high variability of use types permitted. Here, we carried out what we believe to be the first global meta-analysis of PPAs using a regulation-based classification system for MPAs to assess their ecological effectiveness. This novel classification allows for unambiguous differentiation between areas according to allowed use, which is the key feature determining PPA performance. Highly and moderately regulated areas exhibited higher biomass and abundance of commercial fish species, whereas fish abundance and biomass in weakly regulated areas differed little from unprotected areas. Notably, the effectiveness of moderately regulated areas can be enhanced by the presence of an adjacent fully protected area. We concluded that limited and well-regulated uses in PPAs and the presence of an adjacent fully protected area confer ecological benefits, from which socioeconomic advantages are derived.
2014–2017 was an unprecedented period of successive record-breaking hot years, which coincided with the most severe, widespread, and longest-lasting global-scale coral bleaching event ever recorded. ...The 2014–2017 global-scale coral bleaching event (GCBE) resulted in very high coral mortality on many reefs, rapid deterioration of reef structures, and far-reaching environmental impacts. Through the papers in this special issue of
Coral Reefs
entitled
The 2014
–
2017 Global Coral Bleaching Event: Drivers, Impacts, and Lessons Learned
, as well as papers published elsewhere, we have a good analysis of the 2014–2017 GCBE and its impacts. These studies have provided key insights into how climate change-driven marine heatwaves are destroying coral reef ecosystems: (a) The 2014–2017 GCBE is unique in the satellite record in its spatial scale, duration, intensity, and repetition of bleaching. (b) The impacts have been the most severe ever seen at many reefs. (c) Timing of observations matters and needs to be considered during the analysis of impacts. (d) On both global and local scales, the intensity of heat stress and impacts varied. (e) We continue to see important differences among and within coral taxa, with key roles played by algal symbionts and the microbiome. (f) Heat stress and bleaching both play a role in subsequent disease, which plays a key role in mortality. (g) Impacts ripple far beyond corals, with significant changes to the fish and invertebrate community that may last decades. (h) The structure of both individual coral’s skeletons and entire reefs has been eroded much more quickly than previously realized. (i) The 2014–2017 GCBE provided little support for the proposed “lifeboat” hypothesis, whereby deep or mesophotic reefs serve as a means of coral reef salvation. (j) While marine protected areas (MPAs) provide protection from local stressors, they not only do not protect reefs from global-scale stressors, but also here is also little evidence they provide significant resilience.
Most protected areas (e.g.national parks and nature reserves) have been created to protect wildlife and land- and seascape values. They currently cover over 13% of the world's land surface, around ...12% of marine coastal areas and 4% of the marine shelf. Retaining and expanding these areas in the future will depend on showing their wider benefits for society.
This book provides a concise and persuasive overview of the values of protected areas. Contributing authors from over fifty countries examine a wide range of values that are maintained in protected areas, including food, water and materials; health; tourism; cultural and spiritual values; and buffering capacity against climate change and natural disasters. The book also considers the role of protected areas in poverty reduction strategies, their relationship with traditional and indigenous people and in fostering conflict resolution through peace parks initiatives.
The chapters draw on a series of authoritative reports published by WWF over recent years under the 'Arguments for Protection' banner, in association with various partners, and on additional research carried out especially for the volume. It analyses the opportunities and limitations of protected areas for supplying the various values along with practical advice for planners and managers about maximising benefits. It provides an important contribution to the debate about the role of protected areas in conservation and other aspects of natural resource management and human livelihoods.
Published with WWF
PDF
