Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance Module 11 Marine Protected Areas -- Special...

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Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance Module 11 Marine Protected Areas -- Special Legal Considerations for National Frameworks Exercise 2 Improving Protected Area Legislation for MPAs

Transcript of Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance Module 11 Marine Protected Areas -- Special...

Page 1: Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance Module 11 Marine Protected Areas -- Special Legal Considerations for National Frameworks Exercise.

Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance

Module 11

Marine Protected Areas -- Special Legal Considerations for National Frameworks

Exercise 2

Improving Protected Area Legislation for MPAs

Page 2: Building Capacity on Protected Areas Law & Governance Module 11 Marine Protected Areas -- Special Legal Considerations for National Frameworks Exercise.

Background

Purpose Give Learners practice reading and analysing protected areas

legal provisions for MPAs. Provide Learners with an opportunity to apply their knowledge of

special MPA considerations and how to address them in legislation.

Build/improve legal analysis and drafting skills.

Structure Introduction to exercise (15 minutes) Group work (60 minutes) Joint class discussion (45 minutes)

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The Exercise

The Government wishes to assess and, as needed, strengthen/amend its MPA law to ensure it effectively responds to international guidance and the special features and management challenges of MPAs and MPA Networks.

You have been assigned by Government to analyse and make recommendations on the strong points, gaps, and areas for strengthening through amendments.

You are to work in your assigned small group. You will be given a copy of the law needing review, along with a worksheet which you may use to record notes and recommendations.

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The Case Study

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A few points to review

Definition of an MPA

Definition of an MPA network

IUCN management categories

Jurisdictional definitions

CBD guidance criteria for selecting MPA sites and requirements for an MPA network

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… What is an MPA

IUCN

… a clearly defined geographical space recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal and other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.

generic PA definition applies

CBD

… any defined area within or adjacent to the marine environment, together with its overlying waters and associated flora, fauna and historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by legislation or other effective means, including custom, with the effect that its marine and/or coastal biodiversity enjoys a higher level of protection [than its] surroundings.

primary objective is conservation

applies to all categories

Essential considerations

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… What is an MPA Network

IUCN definition -- national/subnational network: A collection of individual marine protected areas operating cooperatively and

synergistically, at various spatial scales, and with a range of protection levels, in order

to fulfil ecological aims more effectively and comprehensively than individual sites could

alone. The network will also display social and economic benefits, though the latter may

only become fully developed over long time frames as ecosystems recover. […]

Representative networks of MPAs [are] those that contain examples of all habitats and

ecological communities of a given area.

CBD definition -- global network: A global network provides for the connections between Parties, with the collaboration of

others, for the exchange of ideas and experiences, scientific and technical cooperation,

capacity building and cooperative action that mutually support national and regional

systems of protected areas which collectively contribute to the achievement of the

programme of work. This network has no authority or mandate over national or regional

systems.

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IUCN Management Categories

Category Definition of Management Objective

Category IaStrict Nature Reserve

Strictly protected areas set aside to protect biodiversity and also possibly geological or landform features, where human visitation, use and impacts are strictly controlled and limited to ensure protection of the conservation values. Such protected areas can serve as indispensable reference areas for scientific research and monitoring.

Category IbWilderness Area

Protected areas are usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human habitation, which are protected and managed so as to preserve their natural condition.

Category IINational Park

Protected areas are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities.

Category IIINatural Monument/ Feature

Protected areas are set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological feature such as a cave or even a living feature such as an ancient grove. They are generally quite small protected areas and often have high visitor value.

Category IVHabitat/Species Management Area

Protected areas aim to protect particular species or habitats and management reflects this priority. Many category IV protected areas will need regular, active interventions to address the requirements of particular species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category.

Category VProtected Landscape/Seascape

A protected area where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation/ other values.

Category VIProtected Area with Sustainable Use of Nature Resources

Protected areas conserve ecosystems and habitats, together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. They are generally large, with most of the area in a natural condition, where a proportion is under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non-industrial use of natural resources compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims of the area.

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CBD guidance: criteria for selecting MPA sites and requirements for an MPA network

Table III(2)-3: CBD guidance on marine and coastal protected areas and networks

Scientific criteria for identifying ecologically or biologically significant marine areas in need of protection in open-ocean waters and deep-sea habitats (Annex 1)

Scientific guidance for selecting areas to establish a representative network of marine protected areas, including in open ocean waters and deep-sea habitats (Annex II)

Criteria ● Uniqueness or rarity—with respect to (1)

endemic species, populations or communities, (2) habitats or ecosystems, or (3) unusual geomorphological or oceanographic features

● Special importance for life history stages of

species—required for a population to survive and thrive

● Importance of threatened, endangered or

declining species and/or habitats—containing habitat for survival or recovery of endangered, threatened or declining species, or areas with significant assemblages of such species

● Vulnerability, fragility, sensitivity or slow

recovery—relatively high proportion of sensitive habitats, biotopes or species that are functionally fragile or with slow recovery

● Biological productivity—containing species,

populations or communities with comparatively higher natural biological productivity

● Biological diversity—comparatively higher

diversity of ecosystems, habitats, communities or species, or higher genetic diversity

● Naturalness—comparatively higher degree of

naturalness as a result of the lack of or low level of human-induced disturbance or degradation

Required network properties and components ● Ecologically and biologically significant areas—

geographically or oceanographically discrete areas with important services to one or more species/populations of an ecosystem or to the ecosystem as a whole, as compared to other surrounding areas or areas of similar ecological characteristics

● Representativity—when the network consists of

areas representing different biogeographical subdivisions of the global oceans and regional seas that reasonably reflect the full range of ecosystems, including biotic and habitat diversity

● Connectivity—to allow linkages whereby

protected sites benefit from larval and/or species exchanges, and functional linkages from other network sites (i.e., individual sites benefit one another)

● Replicated ecological features—more than one

site in the given biogeographic area containing examples of a given feature or features (species, habitats and ecological processes) that naturally occur in that area

● Adequate and viable sites—all sites within a

network should have size and protection sufficient to ensure the ecological viability and integrity of the features for which they were selected

Source: Adapted from CBD COP 2008 IX/20, Annex I and Annex II.

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… Jurisdictional definitions

Marine area under national jurisdiction

Territorial sea Continental shelf

Coastal (near-shore) marine area

estuaries tidal reaches river mouths

coastal lagoons open coast territorial sea

Deepwater (off-shore) marine area

EEZ

beyond territorial sea

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The Task

In your respective groups, you will offer observations and recommendations on the law’s provisions, and in particular, on the following: Definitions provided in the relevant law Scope of application of the law Provisions relating to objectives and strategic planning Institutional and governance arrangements Establishment and management Regulation of activities Compliance and enforcement Concepts critical for implementing connectivity conservation.