Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a conservation tool designed to adequately manage and protect marine resources threatened by human activity, by addressing both biological and socioeconomic needs. The Irish Sea is a busy waterway under the jurisdiction of six entities (Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland, England, and Wales). Within this body of water there are almost 200 conservation designations across 111 MPA sites, with many sites having multiple designations (national, EU, and international).
Data is lacking on the effectiveness of these protected areas in reaching their conservation objectives, due to sites being inadequately monitored. The race to meet the 10% Marine Protected Area target set by the Conservation on Biological Diversity, however, may be compromising effective planning. Do multiple designations ensure better protection of the marine environment, or is the Irish Sea home to paper parks, offering little protection? Metadata compiled from the World Database on Protected Areas and conservation reports from MPA managers were used to investigate this question.
The results show a positive correlation between the number of designations of a site and the existence of a publicly available management plan. The presence of a management plan was also linked to whether or not site assessments were conducted by the relevant authorities, and sites having multiple designations was weakly correlated with favourable assessment outcomes. The results of this study highlight the need to better understand the requirements of national, regional and international-level conservation designations, and how they interact with each other.
Questions this practice may help answer:
- Do multiple designations ensure better protection of the marine environment?
Implementation Context:
Research context
Aspects / Objectives:
The study aimed at assessing whether multiple designations ensure better protection of the marine environment, or whether the Irish Sea was home to paper parks, offering little protection.
Method:
MPAs for this study were identified from the data compiled by the UNEP and IUCN World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). The list of sites was then cross-referenced with data from the Marine Conservation Institute’s MPAtlas, an ‘accurate and widely accepted tally of all MPAs’ (MCI 2019). For each MPA designation, a list of conservation objectives, a management plan, and an environmental assessment were required for a site to be considered adequately managed.
In addition to biophysical objectives, management plans were also analysed for any mention of socioeconomic factors, such as stakeholder involvement in the governance and management of the site. In order to compile a more complete datasheet of Irish Sea MPAs, the appropriate authorities were contacted to provide missing information. Existing reports of environmental assessments, conducted by the relevant authorities, were used to determine the ecological effectiveness of the Irish Sea MPAs.
Main Outputs / Results:
The results showed a positive correlation between the number of designations of a site and the existence of a publicly available management plan. The presence of a management plan was also linked to the fact of whether or not the site assessments were conducted by the relevant authorities, and sites having multiple designations were weakly correlated with favourable assessment outcomes. The results of this study highlight the need to better understand the requirements of national, regional and international-level conservation designations and how they interact with each other.
Transferability:
The results of this study can potentially be applied to other marine areas, including at transnational level.
Responsible Entity:
Geography Department, King's College, London, UK.
Funding Source:
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/P000703/1], UK.
Contact person:
Constance Schéré
constance.schere
kcl.ac.uk (constance[dot]schere[at]kcl[dot]ac[dot]uk)
Geography Department, King's College, London, UK.