From Naure Conservancy Press Release:

New publication urges action – and offers solutions – to protect and manage marine resources

NAGOYA, JAPAN — October 19, 2010 —With only one per cent of world’s oceans under protection, countries are far behind the 10 percent target promised for 2010, compared to the 13% they have achieved on land. A new report released today (download) shows that the exploitation risks for oceans are far higher than previously estimated — and that countries around the world are falling far behind on their promises to protect them.

Launched today at the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) COP10, Global Ocean Protection: Current Trends and Future Opportunities — a new book by The Nature Conservancy, International Union for Conservation of Nature, UN Environmental Programme and other partners* — analyzes the state of the planet’s oceans and offers solutions that will restore marine resources while meeting future human demands. More than 30 leading marine conservationists and scientists have contributed to provide the best scientific and policy recommendations available to encourage countries to take actions that go beyond the establishment of individual protected areas.

“Overall the shortfall in our achievements is quite shocking,” says Dr. Mark Spalding, senior marine scientist with The Nature Conservancy and an editor of the book. “We attained only one tenth of our target. Even that statistic is buoyed up by a handful of giant marine parks, leaving a greater shortfall in many areas where the pressures are most intense. We need to realize that marine protection isn’t just about nature, it’s about ourselves. If we can’t manage and sustain our seas in their entirety, humans will be high on the list of losers.”

A total of 5,880 marine protected areas exist today, mostly in coastal areas. However, current networks do not represent all regions, species and habitats that are important for biodiversity and conservation, and there are significant financial and human capacity restrictions.

“We must get ahead of the curve and plan for future uses of our ocean, conservation can no longer be an afterthought once development objectives are set,” says Imèn Meliane, International Marine Policy Director at The Nature Conservancy and a lead author of the report. “Rather, it should be the underpinning to ensure that the natural capital is sustainably managed to continue to provide for the needs of the present and future generations.”

The solution, the authors suggest, is to figure out a way that people and industries can use oceans for food, tourism, business, medicines, and other purposes while working with conservationists to make sure it is being done in a sustainable way. Referred to as “marine spatial planning,” it means that governments must work together to zone their oceans and plan carefully for their use. This practice has been in place on land for many years but has not been generally applied to oceans.

“Think about what goes into planning a town; there are areas for the houses where we live, areas for the businesses and industries where we work and shop, and areas set aside as parks and open space where we play and watch wildlife,” says Meliane. “If we apply these same principles throughout our oceans, we’ll have a long-term approach that combines ocean protection with sustainable use.”

“We have a window of opportunity here for good changes in ocean protection and management of this scarce and precious resource, “says IUCN’s Caitlyn Toropova, a lead author of the new publication. “Marine protected areas are essential for dealing with the degradation and overexploitation of our oceans, but they cannot be managed effectively as islands of conservation in a sea of depletion, the entire ocean is threatened and we need comprehensive strategies that address threats to the entire ocean space.”

But all is not bleak, in the last few years, we have witnessed visionary leaders banding together to create large-scale initiatives like the Micronesia and Caribbean Challenges and the Coral Triangle Initiative with bold aspirations that explicitly link ocean protection to the well-being of their people and the development and prosperity of their nations.

Ensuring the support of local communities and stakeholder is a key component to success. “Concepts like ecosystem approach and marine protected areas are practiced in the Pacific Island countries for over a millennium, “ says Manny Mori, President, Federal States of Micronesia. “Without effective protected areas at the village or community level, there can never be a successful global ocean protected area, “he adds.

*Additional partners include: WCMC, UNU-IAS, Agence des aires marines protégées and The Wildlife Conservation Society