WelcomeWelcome to the online Workshop Backgrounders for the 2003 OMRN National Conference. These backgrounders have been developed to support the interactive workshops that will be taking place at the conference. More information » |
TopicsWorkshop Backgrounders are available for the following topics: |
Marine Protected Areas |
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| Workshop convenor(s): Doug
Yurick Backgrounder author(s) |
Released
31 Oct 2003 Printer-friendly version: HTML | PDF |
BackgroundMarine protected areas (MPAs) are an important tool for the conservation of marine habitat and species. An MPA can be broadly defined as:
Larger MPAs can have several zones that have different levels of protection, separate incompatible activities, or test different management regimes for the same resource. The term no-take zone (a zone) or marine reserve (an entire MPA) refers to an area where no resource extraction is permitted. The concept of MPAs is not new in Canada, as similar motivations underlie the creation of National Wildlife Areas (Wildlife Act) and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries (Migratory Birds Convention Act). However, the passing of the Oceans Act (1997) and the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act (2002) provides new tools and a fresh impetus to build a national system of MPAs. The Acts also provide more specific definitions for MPAs; for example, the Oceans Act defines a Marine Protected Area (capitalized) as an area of the sea that is designated for special protection for the conservation and protection of:
In contrast, National Marine Conservation Areas are established:
For further reading, a useful introductory survey of the status of MPAs in Canada is provided by Jamieson and Levings' (2001) Marine protected areas in Canada: implications for both conservation and management. More recently, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE 2003) has released Securing Canada's Natural Capital: A Vision for Nature Conservation in the 21st Century, which includes a chapter dedicated to the Conservation of Marine Ecosystems. Current researchResearch on MPAs encompasses a wide range of topics, but tends to focus on the selection and design of MPAs. The North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (NACEC) is exploring how a network or set of networks of MPAs could be used to conserve important marine habitat and species through trilateral co-operation among Canada, Mexico and the United States (Agardy and Wilkinson 2003). In the US, the Pew Oceans Commission has released a report on the role of marine reserves in protecting oceans ecosystems (Palumbi 2003). In developing its MPA program, Fisheries and Oceans Canada produced reports on the status of MPAs on the east coast of Canada (Nicholls 1998), as well as the country as a whole (Jamieson & Levings 2001). Fisheries and Oceans continues to develop a national network of marine protected areas, including areas of interest at Basin Head (PEI), Bowie Seamount (BC), Eastport (NL), Gabriola Passage (BC), Gilbert Bay (NL), Leading Tickles (NL), Musquash Estuary (NB), Race Rocks (BC), The Gully (NS), Manicouagan (QC), and for beluga whales in the Beaufort Sea. The first of these to achieve final designation was Endeavour Hot Vents (BC). At the same time, Parks Canada is expanding its National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) program, building on its existing marine parks at Fathom Five (ON) and Saguenay-St. Lawrence (QC). New NMCAs are proposed for several sites, including Gwaii Haanas (BC), the Southern Strait of Georgia (BC) (Henwood 2003) and Lake Superior (ON). McCallum and Rollins (2003) have studied public perceptions of environmental conditions in the Southern Strait of Georgia proposed NMCA. In addition, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) has a Shorebird Conservation Plan that includes the establishment of National Wildlife Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries. Most recently, the CWS has developed a proposal for the creation of a Marine Wildlife Area at the Scott Islands (BC) (Dunn et al. 2003). Notable initiatives among non-governmental organizations include the joint proposal of the Georgia Strait Alliance and People for Puget Sound (WA) for the creation of an international MPA for Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Boundary Pass ("Orca Pass") (BC/WA). Barsh (2003) has provided a critique of this proposal from an aboriginal perspective. Members of the Linking Science and Local Knowledge Node of the OMRN have examined challenges, opportunities, and ecosystem-based approaches for designating MPAs (Baker 2002; Jessen & Ban 2002), as well as information requirements for designating the proposed Musquash MPA (Ng'ang'a 2002) and possibilities for linking marine and terrestrial conservation initiatives on Haida Gwaii (Rigg 2002). The Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia has studied the design of MPAs and developed an MPA evaluation model. Salomon et al. (2002) developed a modelling tool to compare the ecological consequences of alternative MPA zoning policies within the proposed Gwaii Haanas NMCA (BC). Hooker et al. (1999) also studied MPA design, but for cetaceans in Sable Gully (NS). More recently, Beazley et al. (2003) have examined systems planning and transboundary MPA management in Nova Scotia. Similarly, members of the Whale Research Group at the Memorial University of Newfoundland have studied MPA design for fish and mammals off Newfoundland and Labrador. Other researchers are interested in the role of communities in marine protected areas. For example, LeRoy (2002) studied the multi-stakeholder process associated with the proposed Race Rocks MPA (BC), while Octeau (1999) examined local community participation in the creation of the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park (QC). Parks Canada has conducted a study evaluating management effectiveness at the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park (Archambault and Boisvert 2003), while DFO has reviewed lessons learned from the Race Rocks Area of Interest (Francis et al. 2003). The Saguenay-St. Lawrence study was undertaken as one of several international pilot studies leading to the imminent publication of an IUCN guidebook for evaluating the MPA management effectiveness (Pomeroy et al. 2003). Members of the Linking Science and Local Knowledge Node of the OMRN have examined the role of local, aboriginal and western knowledge in the proposed designation of the Gwaii Haanas NMCA (Sloan 2002), as well as the need for science in the planning of networks of MPAs (Guénette and Alder 2003). Members of the Integrated Management Node of the OMRN have reviewed the development of participatory environmental research and management in the Arctic (Berkes et al. 2001). In addition, members of the Whale Research Lab in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria are studying the role of education in the management of whale watching in BC. Shifting to Haida Gwaii, Jones and Sloan (2003) have developed a stewardship approach to abalone conservation. Future researchThere are many unanswered questions surrounding the implementation of MPAs. Future research might build upon several lines of current inquiry, including:
To what degree does the spill-over effect occur in Canada, and with which species? Can such spill-over effects be translated into quantifiable economic benefits and, if not, what work must be done to enable doing so? Questions for workshop discussionWorldwide, there is growing recognition that marine protected areas (MPAs) are among the best available mechanisms to reverse the decline in the health of oceans and to ensure some measure of ecological resiliency, yet protection of marine spaces and species lags far behind that afforded terrestrial environments (<1% versus >10%, respectively, in terms of area under protected area legislation). There are many reasons for this, but it may be contended that a common element is that humankind has simply failed to date to acknowledge that its practices and policies respecting the use of oceans and ocean species have placed them in peril. What must change, particularly in a Canadian context, to reverse this, and what contribution can the social sciences make to achieving these necessary changes? The following questions will be considered during the MPA workshop:
Results of the workshop should help shape future social science research agendas within the OMRN and federal marine protected area agencies. |
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Backgrounder author(s)Doug Yurick is Chief, Marine Program Coordination, in the National Parks Directorate of the Parks Canada Agency. Sean LeRoy is Project Coordinator for the Clayoquot Alliance for Research, Education and Training, and a Research Coordinator with the Georgia Basin Futures Project. He recently completed his M.Sc. (Planning) at the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC, where his thesis examined the multistakeholder process associated with the proposed designation of the XwaYeN (Race Rocks) Marine Protected Area (BC). Email » Web site » Rod Dobell completed his Ph.D. in economics at MIT and taught economic theory at Harvard for five years before returning to Canada as Professor of Political Economy at the University of Toronto. He has served as Special Advisor (Long Range Economic Planning) to the Deputy Minister of Finance and as Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Board in the Government of Canada, Director of the General Economics Branch at OECD, Director of the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, Director of Research for two Parliamentary Task Forces, and as President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1984-1991. In 1991 he was named as the first appointment to the Francis G. Winspear Chair for Research in Public Policy at the University of Victoria, where he is now Professor Emeritus. Email » Web site » |