Using science effectively: selection, design and management of marine protected areas
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| Keyword | | | Author keywords | Marine protected areas; Science; Management; Habitats directive; OSPAR; MPA network; Marine conservation zones |
| Abstract | Government ministers and their advisors are given imperatives for the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) by various directives, conventions and statutes. Scientists are charged with interpreting the associated goals and objectives into site selection, design and management actions.There are extensive resources in the UK to identify the location of habitats and species, to support decisions about where representative MPAs can best be located and to understand what human activities are most likely to damage threatened habitats and species wherever they occur. However there is muddled thinking about design of an MPA series and especially about issues surrounding ‘connectivity’ where the science that we have needs to be taken more notice of.In the past 25 years or so, since the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive in Britain, scientists who advise policy have had mixed success in making sense of a range of sometimes poorly informed legislative requirements for the establishment of marine protected areas. Although there are now many well thought-through initiatives that can have a positive benefit for threatened habitats and species, science still needs to be used more effectively. |
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