Revision of Marine Protected Areas Regulation Based Classification System
Why do we need to create a Classification System for MPAs?
"Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a global conservation and management tool to enhance the resilience of linked social ecological systems with the aim of conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services for sustainable use. However, MPAs implemented worldwide include a large variety of zoning and management schemes from single to multiple-zoning and from no-take to multiple-use areas" (Horta e Costa et al. 2016)
PowerPoint Slide Show - video 1 2020-06-22 13-24-55.mp4Evolution of MPAs during the last decades
(Source: Humphreys, J., Clark, R.W.E, A critical history of marine protected areas, Chapter 1 (2020) 10.1016/B978-0-08-102698-4.00001-0 )
Since the beginning of the 20th century, as explained in the video above, a series of events have occurred that have led to the increase in MPAs throughout the world. But undoubtedly one of the events that has had the most influence on the increase in the proportion of MPAs has been the publication of the AICHI Target 11 that seeks to protect at least 10% of coastal and marine areas. Since it’s approval 14 million km² of MPAs have been added, driven in a large part by the expansion of existing sites, and creation of very large new sites.
MPAs evolution during the last 2 decades.
(Source: Interactive High Seas Data Portal - MPAtlas.or)Until a few years ago, the classification of MPAs was based on the 6 classes established by the IUCN. However, this classification was more focused on management objectives which many times have a significant mismatch to regulations, making difficult to understand the global effectiveness of MPAs .
Thus in 2016, Horta e Costa. et al., proposed a new form of classification based on the regulation that applies to those areas and not on the management objectives as it had been doing until then with the IUCN. This new system allows to classify the MPAs as well as each zone conforming the MPA individually. Therefore, this classification system, being used as an alternative or together with the IUCN classification, would help managers or policy makers when designing, classifying and implementing MPAs. In this sense, the management of this areas will be improved and this will have better effects on the ecosystem and the biodiversity conforming it.
What were the characteristics of the existing systems?
WHAT'S THE CURRENT SITUATION?
After the first analysis and creation of the RBCS further improvements on the RBCS Decision Tree have been done and currently those results are being analyzed in order do see if the performance of this new version gives a better explanation of the MPA Zone Classification.
Additionaly the aim of this last version is also to give a clear vision for the development of the MPA Guide, a global ocean project where several stakeholders such as IUCN, WDPA, MPATlas or WCMC, among others, are being involved, to refine existing classifications and establish a global vision of MPAs and the conservation outcomes they provide.