Systematic Conservation Planning: A Better Recipe for Managing the High Seas for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use

Abstract

At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio in June 2012, world leaders committed to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the high seas). Our analysis of gaps in high seas management indicates that a paradigm shift to a more systematic approach will be needed to safeguard high seas biodiversity from mounting threats. Experience from terrestrial and coastal areas indicates that a systematic approach to conservation planning and management can help to maintain ecosystem health and productivity while enabling sustainable use. Our analysis further demonstrates that the current legal regime on the high seas is insufficient to realize these objectives: management institutions have neither an adequate mandate for integrated planning nor the ability to effectively coordinate across multiple management regimes. We identify key elements for future high seas management and posit that a two-pronged approach is most promising: the development of an improved global legal regime that incorporates systematic planning as well as the expansion of existing and new regional agreements and mandates. This combined approach is most likely to achieve the required ecosystem-based, integrated and science-based management that world leaders at Rio acknowledged should underpin ocean management.

Cumulative human impacts on marine predators

“…Our findings highlight the need to consider the legislative capacity to mitigate stressors across agencies, sectors and governments, and integrated ecosystem assessments offer a potentially strong tool to do so. In addition, systematic conservation planning is inherently based on spatial management (although non-spatial management measures may be considered in the process), includes iterative feedbacks, and has a proven history of success 9,40 . Inclusion of cumulative impacts and biological data in a spatial context, such as described here, are important components of such processes that may lead to more effective management practices.…”

“…Movement patterns of marine species also provide opportunities for human activities to occur at different times with reduced risk to predators, for example, during seasons when some predators depart the CCS for distant foraging grounds 19,48 . Understanding the dynamic nature of predators and human activities in both space and time can allow for the development of more precise and effective management, reducing impacts on both species and the humans that rely on ocean ecosystems in domestic and international waters 40,44,45,49 .…”

Deep seabed mining: a rising environmental challenge

“…The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has taken steps to help support the development of MPAs and other area-based management tools in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including guidelines for describing ecologically or biologically significant areas in need of protection (Gjerde & Rulska-Domino, 2012). Several studies have investigated the scientific basis for a systematic and practical approach to the establishment of protected areas (Van Dover et al, 2012, Wedding et al, 2013Ban et al, 2014). This systematic approach to deep-sea spatial management and environmental zoning envisages a framework that balances socio-economic interests with the protection of the marine environment, including the conservation of marine biodiversity and ecosystems.…”

The Structuring Role of Marine Life in Open Ocean Habitat: Importance to International Policy

“…International concern has steadily increased over the multiplication and intensification of threats to marine biodiversity in ABNJ, fragmented and uncoordinated management, and the lack of a comprehensive legal framework to properly address threats (Ban et al, 2014;Merrie et al, 2014;Gjerde et al, 2016;Wright et al, 2016). Global agreements on environmental protection recognize steep biodiversity losses in ABNJ and have set targets to protect >10% of coastal and marine areas in marine protected areas (MPAs) (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010;United Nations, 2015).…”