No abstract

Suites of criteria specifying ecological, biological, social, economic, and governance properties enable the systematic identification of sites and networks of high biodiversity value, and can support balancing ecological and socioeconomic objectives of biodiversity conservation in terrestrial and marine spatial planning. We describe designs of suites of ecological, governance and socioeconomic criteria to comprehensively cover manifestations of biodiversity, from genotypes to biomes; compensate for taxonomic and spatial gaps in available datasets; balance biases resulting from conventionally-employed narrow criteria suites focusing on rare, endemic and threatened species; plan for climate change effects on biodiversity; and optimize the ecological and administrative networking of sites. Representativeness, replication, ecological connectivity, size, and refugia are identified as minimum ecological properties of site networks. Through inclusion of a criterion for phylogenetic distinctiveness, criteria suites identify sites important for maintaining evolutionary processes. Criteria for focal species are needed to overcome data Keywords Designing, criteria, suites, identify, discrete, networked, sites, high, value, across, manifestations, biodiversity Disciplines Law Publication DetailsGilman, E., Dunn, D., Read, A., Hyrenbach, K. & Warner, R. (2011). Designing criteria suites to identify discrete and networked sites of high value across manifestations of biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation, 20 (14)

ABSTRACT1. Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) comprise most of Earth's interconnected ocean, hosting complex ecosystems that play key roles in sustaining life and providing important goods and services.2. Although ABNJ encompass nearly half the planet's surface, biological diversity found in these areas remains largely unprotected. Mounting pressures generated by the escalation of human activities in ABNJ threaten vital ecosystem services and the fragile web of life that supports them.3. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely acknowledged as an important tool for the conservation of biological diversity. Currently less than 1% of ABNJ are protected, with the vast majority of MPAs located in waters within national jurisdiction.4. The existing legal framework for protection and sustainable use of ABNJ lacks common goals, principles or standards, multi-sectoral coordination and comprehensive geographic coverage to ensure conservation or good governance grounded in science-based decision-making, transparency, accountability and effective enforcement.

Attention has recently been given to shortcomings and gaps in the governance regime for marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), especially with regard to the conservation of marine biodiversity. This paper provides a brief overview of existing ABNJ treaties and their associated governance bodies. Examples of the manner in which some gaps have been (or are in the process of being) filled are outlined. These examples suggest that given the political will, existing bodies could achieve significantly more. Additionally, greater involvement from those conservation conventions that have already proven themselves to be effective in areas under national jurisdiction, such as CITES and the World Heritage Convention, could likely be beneficial in ABNJ as well. However, the current arrangement of single-sector institutions poses difficulties when attempting comprehensive measures that require cooperation beyond individual sectors, particularly between sectoral and conservation bodies. Nevertheless, measures that would aid in the protection of biodiversity could, and should, be developed. To ensure their success, the active exploration and testing of new cooperative governance arrangement(s) will be necessary. Methods to inspire sectoral organizations to act may also need to be developed.

As global shipping intensifies and technological advances provide more opportunities to access the resources of the high seas and the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), the catalog of threats to the marine environment and its biodiversity increase commensurately. Beyond these threats, new and emerging uses of ABNJ including more intrusive marine scientific research, bio-prospecting, deep seabed mining and environmental modification activities to mitigate the effects of climate change have the potential to harm the highly interconnected and sensitive ecosystems of the open ocean and the deep seabed if not sustainably managed now and into the future. Modern conservation norms such as environmental impact assessment (EIA), marine protected areas, marine spatial planning and development mechanisms such as technology transfer and capacity building are under developed in the legal and institutional framework for ABNJ. This article examines key normative features of the legal and institutional framework for ABNJ and their applicability to conservation of marine biodiversity, gaps and disconnects in that framework and on-going global initiatives to develop more effective governance structures. It discusses some of the options being considered in the UN Ad Hoc Informal Open-ended Working Group to study issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Working Group) to evolve the legal and institutional framework for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in ABNJ and their current and future relevance for the law of the sea. It concludes that the discussions in the BBNJ Working Group and related initiatives in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and at regional level have demonstrated that a more integrated legal and institutional structure is needed to address growing threats to marine biodiversity in ABNJ.