Nature Article on Marine Protected Areas

Nature Magazine recently published an article titled “Policy: Marine biodiversity needs more than protection.”  This article reads in part as follows:

“On 1 September, government leaders, directors of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others will meet in Hawaii at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress to discuss environmental and development challenges. Twenty-three NGOs, including the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Natural Resources Defense Council, are calling on the IUCN to make 30% of the world’s coastal and marine areas fully protected from fishing and other forms of exploitation by 2030.”

***

New Study on Using MPAs to Protect Corals

A study recently published by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre and University College Cork in the UK concludes that deep, cold-water corals are very slow to recover from damage. The study further concludes that deep-water Marine Protected Areas can be used to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems most effectively when they are put in place before that damage occurs.

Click here to read a detailed article about this study.