Parque Nacional Revillagigedo
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EVALUATION REPORT Parque Nacional Revillagigedo Location: Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico, Eastern Pacific Ocean Blue Park Status: Nominated (2020), Evaluated (2021) MPAtlas.org ID: 68808404 Manager(s): Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) MAPS 2 1. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 1.1 Biodiversity Value 4 1.2 Implementation 8 2. AWARD STATUS CRITERIA 2.1 Regulations 11 2.2 Design, Management, and Compliance 13 3. SYSTEM PRIORITIES 3.1 Ecosystem Representation 18 3.2 Ecological Spatial Connectivity 18 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Evidence of MPA Effects 19 Figure 1: Revillagigedo National Park, located 400 km south of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, covers 148,087 km2 and includes 3 zone types – Research (solid blue), Tourism (dotted), and Traditional Use/Naval (lined) – all of which ban all extractive activities. It is partially surrounded by the Deep Mexican Pacific Biosphere Reserve (grey) which protects the water column below 800 m. All 3 zones of the National Park are shown in the same shade of dark blue, reflecting that they all have Regulations Based Classification scores ≤ 3, corresponding with a fully protected status (see Section 2.1 for more information about the regulations associated with these zones). (Source: MPAtlas, Marine Conservation Institute) 2 Figure 2: Three-dimensional map of the Revillagigedo Marine National Park shows the bathymetry around Revillagigedo’s islands. (Source: Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, 2018) 3 1.1 Eligibility Criteria: Biodiversity Value (must satisfy at least one) 1.1.1. Includes rare, unique, or representative ecosystems. The Revillagigedo Archipelago is comprised of a variety of unique ecosystems, due in part to its proximity to the convergence of five tectonic plates. The resulting diverse geoforms – for example, the shield volcanoes that emerged from underwater to create Revillagigedo’s islands – and varied relief form complex heterogeneous habitats (see the bathymetry of the area in Figure 2). Revillagigedo National Park protects mangroves, shallow and mesophotic coral reefs, rocky reefs, abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents and seamounts. Revillagigedo is an important stepping stone for coral species crossing from the Indo-Pacific to the Eastern Tropical Pacific.1 Additionally, mangrove thickets are focalized in patches around Socorro Island.2 1.1.2. Includes area of high species richness or endemism within the context of the biogeographic region. Revillagigedo is recognized as a region of great zoogeographic relevance with a unique dispersal of marine fauna as organisms from the Indo-Pacific, Gulf of California and the Mexican Pacific converge in the transition zone. The Revillagigedo Archipelago is located within two large marine ecoregions – the Mexican Pacific Transition and the Southern Californian Pacific. At the boundary of these ecoregions, the convergence of the California Current, North Equatorial Current and the Coastal Current of Costa Rica creates a highly productive transitional zone. Near Clarion Island, these currents generate an increase in primary productivity and abundance of phytoplankton: 190 macroalgae species (38 Chlorophyta, 29 Phaeophyta, 123 Rhodophyta) have been registered around the Archipelago’s four islands. The diversity of the algal communities is greater than that reported for other islands of the Mexican Tropical Pacific3 and depends on the geomorphological configuration and the rocky and coral reef habitats present in the archipelago. As a result of high productivity, Revillagigedo National Park supports incredibly biodiverse ecosystems and large aggregations of benthic and pelagic species.4 The rocky reefs of Revillagigedo house at least half of all recorded marine fauna species in the region. The coral community of the archipelago is one of the most diverse in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.5 It includes 22 species of hermatypic corals, half of which are only found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and one third of which are found exclusively in 1 López‐Pérez, A. et al. (2016). The coral communities of the Islas Marias archipelago, Mexico: structure and biogeographic relevance to the Eastern Pacific. Marine Ecology, 37:679-690. 2 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018). Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, p.25-55, English translation: p. 20-45. 3 Serviere-Zaragoza et al. (2007) Distribución espacial de macroalgas marinas en las islas Revillagigedo, México. Ciencia y Mar XI 31:3-13. 4 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018) Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, pp. 3, 20, 40, 43, 47, English translation: pp. 3, 16, 33, 36, 39. 5 GlYnn, P. W. et al. (2017) 'Eastern Pacific Coral Reef Provinces, Coral CommunitY Structure and Composition: An Overview BT - Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: Persistence and Loss in a Dynamic Environment', in GlYnn, P. W., Manzello, D. P., and Enochs, I. C. (eds). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 107–176. 4 the waters of Revillagigedo.6 The islands of Revillagigedo, particularly Socorro Island, contain a high diversity of invertebrates, mainly crustaceans and mollusks. The pronghorn spiny lobster (Panulirus penicillatus), a commercially valuable species, is also abundant in the waters of Socorro Island and San Benedicto Island.7 Revillagigedo National Park protects 389 reported species of fish, of which 352 are bony fish, representing 13.2% of the total ichthyofauna in Mexico.8 Of these, 16 are endemic to the Revillagigedo Archipelago.9 The remoteness of the region has sustained large populations of pelagic fish, including transpacific species that disperse across the Eastern Pacific Barrier, a 6400 km stretch of ocean with depths of up to 11 km that separates the central from the eastern Pacific Ocean.10,11,12 Fish biomass in the Revillagigedo Archipelago is greater than nearly anywhere else in the world, only falling behind Galapagos Marine Reserve in Ecuador and Cocos Island National Park in Costa Rica.13 Elasmobranchs are the most diverse group of the pelagic fish community. Twenty-eight species of sharks have been recorded in Revillagigedo,14 and it is an important breeding site for the silvertip shark (Carcharhinus albimarginatus), the whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus) and the Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis). The archipelago also includes a large aggregation of giant manta rays (Manta birostris).15 In addition to fish, Revillagigedo National Park is home to an abundance of other marine species including hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and several species of seabirds, such as the wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna paciFica), Townsend’s shearwater (PufFinus auricularis) and the Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis). It includes important breeding and nesting sites for green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas).16,17 6 Ketchum, J.T. and ReYes Bonilla (2001) Taxonomía Y distribución de los corales hermatípicos (Scleractinia) del Archipiélago de Revillagigedo, Pacífico de México. Revista Biologia Tropical 49:803-848. 7 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018) Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, pp. 43-46, English translation: pp. 36-38. 8 Fourriére, M. et al. (2016) Checklist and analysis of completeness of the reef fish fauna of the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico. Zootaxa 4150: 436-466. 9 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018) Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, pp. 46, English translation: p. 38. 10 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018) Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, p. 46, English translation: p. 38. 11 Lessios, H.A. and Robertson, D.R. (2006) Crossing the impassible: genetic connections in 20 reef fishes across the eastern Pacific barrier. Proceedings of the Royal Society, 273: 2201-2208. 12 Ketchum J.T. and ReYes Bonilla, H. (1997) BiogeographY of hermatypic corals of the Archipiélago Revillagigedo, México. Proc 8th Int Coral Reef Sym 1:471-476. 13 Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (2018) Programa de Manejo del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo, p. 47, English translation: p. 39. 14 Fourriere, M. et al. (2016) Checklist and analysis of completeness of the reef fish fauna of the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico. Zootaxa 4150: 436-466. 15 Carter, A.L., et al. (2020) Assessing opportunities to support coral reef climate change refugia in MPAs: A case studY at the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Marine Policy 112:1–11. 16 Carter, A.L., et al. (2020) Assessing opportunities to support coral reef climate change refugia in MPAs: A case studY at the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Marine Policy 112:1–11. 17 HolroYd, G.L. and TrefrY, H.E. (2010) The Importance of Isla Clarión, Archipelago Revillagigedo, Mexico, for Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Nesting. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 9:305-309. 5 The region is also an important spot for feeding, reproduction, and movement of marine mammal species such as a large aggregation of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), as well as blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuate), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) and orca whales (Orcinus orca).18 1.1.3. Includes demonstrated historic or predicted ecological reFugia. According to Carter et al. (2020), coral reefs surrounding the Revillagigedo Archipelago have the characteristics of a coral refugia, suggesting increased resilience to climate change. These characteristics include: 1) a moderate ocean