Browsing by Author "Harasta, Nikki"
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- Marine protected areas stage of establishment and level of protection are good predictors of their conservation outcomesPublication . Horta e Costa, Barbara; Benito-Abelló, Carmela de; Pike, Elizabeth; Turnbull, John; MacCarthy, Jessica; Harasta, Nikki; Fragkopoulou, Eliza; Roessger, Julia; Sullivan-Stack, Jenna; Grorud-Colvert, Kirsten; Gill, David; Morgan, Lance; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Zupan, Mirta; Gonçalves, Jorge M.S.; Claudet, JoachimDespite the importance of active management and strong protection in driving marine protected areas (MPA) performance, coverage area remains the sole indicator for global targets. To assess whether conservation quality lags behind quantity, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 123 MPAs. We show that MPAs’ Levels of Protection and Stages of Establishment are reliable proxies for MPAs’ ecological outcomes; hence, they are good candidates for tracking MPA quality. Actively managed MPAs have significantly higher fish density and biomass than non-protected surrounding areas, while MPAs that are only implemented do not. The effectiveness of actively managed MPAs can be maximized if they are fully or highly protected. Lightly and minimally protected areas that are only implemented can deliver negative outcomes. Our findings highlight the important interplay between stages and levels as developed in the MPA Guide and support the need to include both in conservation targets to track not only MPA quantity but also quality.
- Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 targetPublication . Pike, Elizabeth P; MacCarthy, Jessica; Hameed, Sarah; Harasta, Nikki; Grorud-Colvert, Kirsten; Sullivan-Stack, Jenna; Claudet, Joachim; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Villagomez, Angelo; Morgan, LanceThe international community set a global conservation target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (“30 × 30”) to reverse biodiversity loss, including through marine protected areas (MPAs). However, varied MPAs result in significantly different conservation outcomes, making MPA coverage alone an inadequate metric.We used TheMPA Guide framework to assess the the world’s largest 100 MPAs by area, representing nearly 90% of reported global MPA coverage and 7.3% of the global ocean area, and analyzed the distribution of MPA quality across political and ecological regions. A quarter of the assessed MPA coverage is not implemented, and one-third is incompatible with the conservation of nature. Two factors contribute to this outcome: (1) many reported MPAs lack regulations or management, and (2) some MPAs allow high-impact activities. Fully and highly protected MPAs account for one-third of the assessed area but are unevenly distributed across ecoregions in part because some nations have designated large, highly protected MPAs in their overseas or remote territories. Indicators of MPA quality, not only coverage, are needed to ensure a global network of MPAs that covers at least 30% of the ocean and effectively safeguards representative marine ecosystems from destructive human activities.
- Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 targetPublication . Pike, Elizabeth P; MacCarthy, Jessica M. C.; Hameed, Sarah; Harasta, Nikki; Grorud-Colvert, Kirsten; Sullivan-Stack, Jenna; Claudet, Joachim; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, E.J.; Villagomez, Angelo; Morgan, LanceThe international community set a global conservation target to protect at least30% of the ocean by 2030 (“30 × 30”) to reverse biodiversity loss, includingthrough marine protected areas (MPAs). However, varied MPAs result in sig-nificantly different conservation outcomes, making MPA coverage alone aninadequate metric. We used The MPA Guide framework to assess the the world’slargest 100 MPAs by area, representing nearly 90% of reported global MPA cov-erage and 7.3% of the global ocean area, and analyzed the distribution of MPAquality across political and ecological regions. A quarter of the assessed MPAcoverage is not implemented, and one-third is incompatible with the conserva-tion of nature. Two factors contribute to this outcome: (1) many reported MPAslack regulations or management, and (2) some MPAs allow high-impact activi-ties. Fully and highly protected MPAs account for one-third of the assessed areabut are unevenly distributed across ecoregions in part because some nations havedesignated large, highly protected MPAs in their overseas or remote territories.Indicators of MPA quality, not only coverage, are needed to ensure a global net-work of MPAs that covers at least 30% of the ocean and effectively safeguardsrepresentative marine ecosystems from destructive human activities
- Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 targetPublication . Pike, Elizabeth P; MacCarthy, Jessica; Hameed, Sarah; Harasta, Nikki; Grorud‐Colvert, Kirsten; Sullivan‐Stack, Jenna; Claudet, Joachim; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Villagomez, Angelo; Morgan, LanceThe international community set a global conservation target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (“30 × 30”) to reverse biodiversity loss, including through marine protected areas (MPAs). However, varied MPAs result in significantly different conservation outcomes, making MPA coverage alone an inadequate metric.We used TheMPA Guide framework to assess the the world’s largest 100 MPAs by area, representing nearly 90% of reported global MPA coverage and 7.3% of the global ocean area, and analyzed the distribution of MPA quality across political and ecological regions. A quarter of the assessed MPA coverage is not implemented, and one-third is incompatible with the conservation of nature. Two factors contribute to this outcome: (1) many reported MPAs lack regulations or management, and (2) some MPAs allow high-impact activities. Fully and highly protected MPAs account for one-third of the assessed area but are unevenly distributed across ecoregions in part because some nations have designated large, highly protected MPAs in their overseas or remote territories. Indicators of MPA quality, not only coverage, are needed to ensure a global network of MPAs that covers at least 30% of the ocean and effectively safeguards representative marine ecosystems from destructive human activities.