Marine Protected Areas are designed to benefit the marine ecosystem and human coastal populations, but are they actually achieving both? There are currently nearly 17,000 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across the globe.
In June 5–9, 2017, during the United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference, 143 governments, signatory parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) declared their commitment and strategies to reach several objectives of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which stands to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.
Corals and coral-associated species are highly vulnerable to the emerging effects of global climate change. The widespread degradation of coral reefs, which will be accelerated by climate change, jeopardizes the goods and services that tropical nations derive from reef ecosystems. However, climate change impacts to reef social–ecological systems can also be bi-directional. For example, some climate impacts, such as storms and sea level rise, can directly impact societies, with repercussions for how they interact with the environment.
The UN General Assembly has made a unanimous decision to start negotiations to establish an international, legally-binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity within Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). However, there has of yet been little discussion on the importance of this move to the ecosystem services provided by coastal zones in their downstream zone of influence.
New Zealand's marine environment is under pressure from coastal development, shipping traffic and climate change, a new government report says.
IUCN is seeking Expressions of Interest from suitably qualified firms and/or individuals to, use the Guidance Manual – Economic Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Services in the Pacific to prepare a detailed report quantifying the value of at least seven (7) marine and coastal ecosystem serv
Representatives from five Pacific island countries have been in Nadi this week to begin the development of regional and national plans to implement the European Union (EU) funded Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) programme Bycatch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) compone
The ecology of many coral reefs has changed markedly over recent decades in response to various combinations of local and global stressors. These ecological changes have important implications for the abundance of taxa that regulate the production and erosion of skeletal carbonates, and thus for many of the geo‐ecological functions that coral reefs provide, including reef framework production and sediment generation, the maintenance of reef habitat complexity and reef growth potential.
Coral reefs underpin a range of ecosystem goods and services that contribute to the well‐being of millions of people. However, tropical coral reefs in the Anthropocene are likely to be functionally different from reefs in the past. In this perspective piece, we ask, what does the Anthropocene mean for the provision of ecosystem services from coral reefs? This synthesis of the coral reef ecosystem services literature suggests the field is poorly prepared to understand the changing service provision anticipated in the Anthropocene.
One of the foremost strategies for the recovery of marine ecosystems that has proven successful in other countries is the establishment of marine reserves.