The big question for the MPA field: How effective are our MPAs? An interview with Jean-Luc Solandt

As the global MPA community approaches the 2020 deadline for meeting Aichi Target 11, it must achieve two potentially very different goals. There is the numerical goal of covering 10% of coastal and marine areas in MPAs. And there is the qualitative goal that the conservation be achieved through “effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems” of protected areas.

Achieving the numerical goal will be easier than the rest.

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Letter to the editor: IUCN consensus needlessly ignores cultural MPAs

Dear MPA News,

I am writing in response to your article “Sharpening our focus on MPAs for 2020 and beyond: The emerging consensus on what is and is not an MPA, and the key types of MPAs” (Dec 2018 / Jan 2019).

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Perspective: Analyzing susceptibility of coastal MPAs to catastrophic land-based events

By Rafael Magris

In November 2015, 39 million cubic meters of metal-contaminated slurry polluted riverine and coastal waters in southwestern Brazil when a tailings dam failure occurred in a headwater of the Doce River catchment. (A tailings dam is used to store wastes from mining operations.) The plume of contaminated sediment ultimately reached several sensitive marine habitats including coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and habitats formed by coralline crustose algae. Much of the sediment accumulated in two marine protected areas – Santa Cruz Wildlife Refuge and Costa das Algas Environmental Protection Area.

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Perspective: Thirty more marine mammal habitats awarded status as Important Marine Mammal Areas

By Erich Hoyt and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara

In late January 2019, the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force announced approval of 30 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) in the North East Indian Ocean and South East Asian Seas Region. IMMAs are areas of habitat that are important to marine mammal species, and which have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation. On a map, IMMAs are “marine mammal layers” intended to spotlight areas that may lead to MPAs or other conservation outcomes, such as ship route or noise reduction directives, and may be used in the course of marine spatial planning.

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MPA Science Corner: Network of no-take reserves - Drones for conservation - Coral Triangle conservation atlas - Designing MPA networks with multiple objectives - Converting an ad hoc MPA system to a real network

These recent articles or preprints on MPA-related science and policy are all free to access.

Article: Rolim, F. A. et al. Network of small no-take marine reserves reveals greater abundance and body size of fisheries target species. PLOS ONE 14, e0204970 (2019).

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Notes & News: Chile - Enforcement vessel threatened - Global Ocean Refuges - MPAs and human health - Ecosystem approach - MPA readings - Top MPA News articles of 2018

Chile announces southernmost MPA in the Americas

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Who is Working the Chesapeake Bay Today?