14 December 2016 \u2013 Since April, an unprecedented 3.6 million square kilometres of ocean \u2013 an area larger than India \u2013 have been designated as marine protected areas (MPAs), meaning for the first time, more than 5% of the world\u2019s oceans are now protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe establishment of so many new protected areas is tremendous news and should give those fighting tirelessly to conserve the world\u2019s oceans and seas an enormous sense of achievement,\u201d announced Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is meeting this week in Mexico, is calling for the world to protect 10 per cent of its coastal and marine areas by 2020. That goal is part of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and has now been exceeded.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the recent creation of five \u201cmega MPAs,\u201d off the coasts of Chile, Palau, Hawaii, and the Pitcairn Islands and St. Helena\u2019s in the South Atlantic, the global total percentage of protected seas is now 12.7 per cent.<\/p>\n
Mr. Solheim urged stakeholders to remember that \u201cthe Aichi Biodiversity Targets also call for countries to focus their conservation efforts on the areas of greatest biodiversity. It is not just about the size of the area under protection, but also about where these zones are located and how strong that protection really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the effort to emphasize the importance of protecting the Antarctic seas, during the conference, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP Patron of Oceans and endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh announced his campaign, Antarctica 2020, which aims to secure MPAs in vulnerable areas of Antarctica over the next three years. The campaign builds off the momentum of the recent Ross Sea victory, which together with the three targeted areas would bring the total protected area in the Antarctic to nearly 7 million square kilometres \u2013 an area the size of Australia.<\/p>\n
Lewis Pugh swimming in the Ross Sea, in 2015. Photo: Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP
\n\u201cWe have entered a new area of uncertainty, with many hard-fought conservation achievements now under threat. It\u2019s time to build on our recent success in the Ross Sea. With public support, I believe we can achieve the most ambitious ocean protection plan in history,\u201d said Mr. Pugh as he spoke from Antarctica\u2019s Bellingshausen Sea, where he is undertaking a swim in freezing waters to bring global attention to oceanic protection.
\nDuring the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Biodiversity Conference in Cancun, Mexico pledged to preserve an additional 650,000 square kilometres of land and sea \u2013 roughly 25 per cent of its territorial waters. The commitment includes establishing the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve, an area of 57,000 square kilometres.<\/p>\n
Rafael Pacchiano Alam\u00e1n, president of the conference, hailed the country\u2019s decision: \u201cMexico wants to send a clear signal on the urgency to meet the Aichi Targets by taking unprecedented actions to preserve marine and terrestrial ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the country had \u201csurpassed its commitment to achieve the Aichi goals for marine areas and is on track to achieve land protected areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other pledges from the conference included Cambodia\u2019s commitment to nearly double its number of protected areas, which now include one-third of the country\u2019s land. The United Arab Emirates also indicated its intention to declare 18 new protected areas, four of which are marine.<\/p>\n
According to new figures released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵEP\u2019s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, today there are 14,859 MPAs covering 18.5 million square kilometres of ocean and sea.<\/p>\n
However, both organizations warned that there is an unequal representation of ecosystems and areas rich in biodiversity; according to the 2016 Protected Planet report, only one third of the world\u2019s marine ecoregions offer more than 10 per cent of their areas protection.<\/p>\n
More than three billion people depend on marine and coastal diversity for their livelihoods. When managed correctly, MPAs can boost the abundance of fish and increase biodiversity.<\/p>\n
Via Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News Centre: https:\/\/www.un.org\/apps\/news\/story.asp?NewsID=55798#.WFGvurIrLcs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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