MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

CORAL REEFS

What is marine protected area?

• A marine protected area (MPA) is an area of sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biodiversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.

MPA’s include

• Marine parks• nature reserves• locally managed marine

areas that protect reefs • Sea grass beds• Ship wrecks• Archaeological sites• Tidal lagoons

•Mudflats•Salt marshes •Mangroves •Rock platforms •Underwater areason the coast .• the seabed in deep water, as well as open water (the water column)

History of MPA’s

• The world’s first marine protected area- Fort Jefferson National Monument in Florida, which covered 18850 hectares of sea and 35 hectares of coastal land.

Why marine protected areas?Increasing impacts on the world's oceans, caused by • Development , • Pollution , • Overfishing , and • natural events, strain the health of our coastal and

marine ecosystems.

Some of above impacts can include • decreased or damaged fish populations, bleached

corals,• threatened or endangered species• limited job opportunities. MPAs are one type of ocean management tool that,

when used effectively, help ensure healthy oceans. They may also protect historic artifacts such as shipwrecks that could otherwise be damaged by handling or theft.

Why marine protected areas?

Coral reef and MPA’s

• Coral reefs are one of the most productive, yet most threatened, ecosystems on the planet.

• Marine protected areas (MPAs) provide place-based management of marine ecosystems through various degrees and types of protective actions. Habitats such as coral reefs are especially susceptible to degradation resulting from climate change, as evidenced by mass bleaching events over the past two decades.

Marine ecosystems are being altered by direct effects of climate change including

• ocean warming• ocean acidification • rising sea level• changing circulation patterns• increasing severity of storms• changing freshwater influxes.

Design a MPA

General recommendation• Size • Shape • Risk spreading(representation, replication, and spread) • Critical areas • Connectivity• Maintain ecosystem function• Ecosystem based management

Size

• There is no ideal size applicable to all MPAs; size should be determined by the specific management objectives for each MPA and the species and habitats targeted for protection.

• It should be minimum 10-20 km in diameter.

BIGGER IS BETTER

Shape

• Simple shapes should be used, such as squares or rectangles, rather than elongated or convoluted ones,

• to minimize edge effects while maximizing interior protected area

Risk spreading

• climate change will not impact marine species equally everywhere

• Measure the SST( sea surface temperature)

Critical areas

• Areas that are biologically and ecologically important

• Areas that exhibits high productivity• Areas that may be naturally more resistant or

resilient to the threat of climate change

Connectivity

• Connectivity is the natural linkage between marine habitats which occurs via larval disperse and the movements of adults and juveniles

• It is important that biological patterns of connectivity among reefs be identified

Eco system functions

• MPAs should include large areas, a broad range of habitats, and a high diversity of species

• Protecting functional groups is an important strategy for supporting ecosystem function

Ecosystem value

• Scientists need to recognize the importance of maximizing the outputs of the services that ecosystem functions generate, quantifying and managing trade-offs among ecosystem services to benefit both humans and nature.

Marine protected areas in SriLanka

There are only two sea areas that have been declared as marine sanctuaries especially to protect the coral reefs. They are the

• Hikkaduwa Marine Sanctuary (declared in 1979)• The Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary (declared in 1992) declared under section 2(2) of the Fauna and Flora

Protection Ordinance (Chapter 469) as amended by Act No. 44 of 1964 and Act No. 1 of 1970.

Corals are in crisis

Benefits • conserving representative samples of biological

diversity and associated ecosystems;• protecting critical sites for reproduction and growth

of species;• protecting sites with minimal direct human impact to

help them recover from other stresses such as increased ocean temperature;

• protecting settlement and growth areas for marine species so as to provide spill-over addition in adjacent areas;

• providing focal points for education about marine ecosystems and human interactions with them;

• providing sites for nature-based recreation and tourism; and

• providing undisturbed control or reference sites serving as a baseline for scientific research and for design and evaluation of management of other areas.

Reference • THE BENEFITS OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS • Designing Effective Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas A Synthesis Report

Based on Presentations at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium Bali, Indonesia October 2000

• HISTORY OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS: MEASUREMENTS, MECHANISMS & FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES Leonard Sonnenschein, President World Aquarium & Conservation for the Oceans Foundation Co-Founder, World Ocean Network

• ISRS BRIEFING PAPER 1 MARINE PROTECTED AREAS (MPAS) IN MANAGEMENT OF CORAL REEFS

• EFFECTIVE CORAL REEF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS (MPAs):The Coral Reef Alliance

• Designing marine protected area networks to address the impacts of climate change Elizabeth McLeod, Rodney Salm, Alison Green, and Jeanine Almany

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