INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY BEST PRACTICES for Coral Reef Protection © Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), 2014 First edition: February, 2015 ISBN- 13: 978-0-9823143-7-1 ISBN- 10: 0-9823143-7-X Authors: Clea Bowdery, Sta Attorney, Environment Program, Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice Haydée Rodríguez, Attorney, Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense Erica Speights, Associate, Mayer Brown LLP Amelia Xu, Former Associate, Mayer Brown LLP Stephen Yeh, Associate, Mayer Brown LLP AIDA Board of Directors President Gustavo Alanís, Mexico Manolo Morales, Ecuador President, Mexican Environmental Law Center (CEMDA) Executive Director, ECOLEX Fernando Dougnac, Chile Vice-President President, Environmental Defenders Association (FIMA) Rolando Castro, Costa Rica Executive Director, Environmental and Natural Jerónimo Rodriguez, Colombia Resources Law Center (CEDARENA) Scientic Sub-Director, Alexander Von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute Secretary Margot Venton, Canada Pedro Solano, Perú President, Sta Lawyer, Ecojustice Executive Director, Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA) Chief Financial Ocer Martin Wagner, USA Santiago Cantón, USA International Program Director, Earthjustice Director, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Other Board Members Rafael Gonzalez, Costa Rica Ana Valéria Araújo, Brazil President, Justice for Nature (JPN) Executive Director, Brazil Human Rights Funds Co-Executive Directors Anna Cederstav Astrid Puentes Marine Program Senior Attorney Gladys Martínez Cover photo © Shutterstock Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge the generous pro bono legal support provided by the following law rms and lawyers who contributed to the development of this Guide: Coordinating Counsel: Mayer Brown LLP (United States) Paul Forrester, Partner Sarah Reynolds, Associate Marcia Maack, Assistant Director of Pro Alexa Shea, Associate Bono Activities Erica Speights, Associate John D. Furlow, Associate Stephen Yeh, Associate Sean G. Kulkarni, Associate Diego Perez, Foreign Attorney Gabriel Salinas, Associate Local Counsel: Clayton Utz (Australia) Claire Smith, Partner Mark Etherington, Senior Associate Kathryn Pacey, Partner Stephanie Bashford, Lawyer Tosin Aro, Special Counsel omas Dougherty, Lawyer Rebecca Davie, Senior Associate Juliette King, Lawyer Sedgwick Chudleigh Barristers and Attorneys (Bermuda) Mark Chudleigh, Partner Amy Murray, Associate Stuarts Walker Hersant (Cayman Islands) Chris Humphries, Managing Director Webber Wentzel (Tanzania/South Africa) Moray Hathorn, Partner Chiara van Ingen, Candidate Attorney Patrick Ache, Associate Director Dane Volker, Candidate Attorney Richard McCaerty, Associate We also would like to express our gratitude to AIDA intern Afsaneh Lotzadeh for her assistance with important research, and to the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, which was instrumental in managing the research and making this document possible. Special thanks to Dina Stukanow, Director of Pro Bono Partnerships, for recruiting attorneys around the world to provide legal studies of their jurisdictions on a pro bono basis, and to Clea Bowdery, Environment Program Sta Attorney, for managing the pro bono project team and assisting with the drafting and editing of this guide. © shutterstock TABLE of CONTENTS Executive Summary 8 Introduction – e Challenge of Protecting Coral Reefs 15 I. reats to Coral Reefs 19 II. International Obligations to Protect Coral Reefs 22 III. International Best Practices: Regulatory Tools for Protecting Coral Reefs 26 A. Protecting the Environment and Marine Ecosystems Using Comprehensive Regulations and General Tools 27 1. Marine Conservation Laws 27 2. Marine Protected Areas 28 i. Development of science-based management plans that identify and address relevant threats 30 ii. Designation of zones with varying degrees of protective restrictions 31 3. Heritage Preservation 31 4. Endangered Species and Biodiversity Protection 32 5. Prohibition on Breaking, Damaging, Taking, and Selling Corals 33 B. Preventing Impacts on Reefs from Land-based and Coastal Activities 33 1. Coastal Development, Land Use, and Planning 34 i. An authority to oversee coastal development 34 ii. Requirement for permits and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prior to construction 34 iii. Prohibition on sand removal near coral reefs 36 2. Water Quality 37 i. Prohibition on discharging pollutants into bodies of water 37 ii. Water quality standards 38 iii. Water quality monitoring program 40 iv. Special water quality threats from agricultural and related operations 41 C. Governance for Protecting Coral Reefs 42 1. Public Participation 42 i. Facilitating formation of community advisory groups to assist with protection and management of shery and reef resources 42 ii. Participation and special rights of indigenous and traditional groups 43 iii. Public participation in enforcement and monitoring 44 2. Scientic Research 44 i. National strategy and program for coral conservation 44 ii. Ensuring that research activities are not harmful to reefs 46 D. Safe Navigation in Reef Areas 46 1. Restrictions or Prohibitions on Anchoring 47 2. Pilotage Requirements 48 E. Promoting Responsible Tourism 49 1. Requirement for Tour Operators to Obtain Permit or License 49 2. Restrictions on Tourism Activities at May Damage Reefs 50 i. Requirements for permits or guides for snorkeling or diving 50 ii. Restrictions on snorkeling, diving, and use of submersible craft 50 F. Preventing Fishing Impacts on Coral Reefs 51 1. Fisheries Laws and Management Plans Based on Scientic Data and Ecosystem Health 52 2. Requirement to Obtain Permit or License 53 3. Fishing Restrictions to Protect Certain Species 53 4. Limitations or Bans on Fishing Methods Harmful to Reefs 56 G. Implementation, Monitoring and Enforcement 57 1. Monitoring of Reef Health by Ocers and Other Relevant Personnel 57 2. Eective Enforcement of Rules and Regulations 58 i. Coordination between departments: park rangers, shery ocers, coast guard, or other ocers 58 ii. Authority of ocers to stop vessels, issue tickets, make arrests, and seize items related to a violation 58 iii. Suciently punitive sanctions for violations, including nes and/or imprisonment 59 iv. Recovery of damages from responsible party to compensate for restoring harmed reef areas 61 3. Mechanisms for Funding Management Activities 62 Conclusion 66 List of Laws and Regulations 68 References 74 6 FIGURES and TABLES Figure 1. Map of coral reef distribution 16 Table 1. International obligations relevant to coral reef protection 23 Table 2. Main pollutants, sources and impacts to coral reefs 40 Table 3. Examples of penalties for vessel damage to corals 60 Table 4. Examples of Tanzania’s access and activity fees 65 © shutterstock EXECUTIVE SUMMARY e Challenge of Protecting Coral Reefs 8 © shutterstock EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Coral reefs provide enormous benet to people and communities is guide is intended to make coral reef protection easier by providing worldwide, including critical spawning grounds for shes, sites for examples of eective regulatory best practices that can be adapted to tourism, and buers to protect coastal areas from storm damage. e dierent countries and contexts. It is not an exhaustive compilation of all United Nations Environment Programme estimates the annual economic possible best practices and does not claim to oer a one-size-ts-all value per 1 km2 of coral reef to be between US $100,000 and US solution for every jurisdiction. $600,0001. Rather, it oers a set of regulatory ingredients that have been eective in various jurisdictions and can be recombined and adapted as appropriate. he value of the ecosystem services provided by e best practices highlighted in the guide were selected based on a study 1km2 of coral reef is estimated to be between of existing legal and institutional frameworks for protecting coral reefs in T seven countries with important reef resources: Australia, Belize, Bermuda, US $100,000 and US $600,000. the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Tanzania, and the United States. Despite their biological importance, economic value, and other benets, INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES: coral reefs are at risk in many parts of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean. Studies estimate that 30% of reefs are already GENERAL REGULATORY TOOLS seriously damaged and 60% could disappear by 20302 if corrective FOR PROTECTING CORAL REEFS measures are not taken, due to impacts from water pollution, destructive shing methods, overshing, and other unsustainable human activities. Reefs are also threatened by climate change, as higher seawater A variety of general laws and regulatory approaches often forms the basis temperatures provoke coral bleaching, and ocean absorption of carbon for preservation of coral reefs and other fragile ecosystems. Constitutions dioxide impedes the calcication process necessary for coral reefs to grow. and general environmental laws that do not mention corals nonetheless If localized human threats, such as pollution and damage by boats and provide the framework for creating specic regulation to protect reefs. shing gear can be addressed, reef ecosystems will have greater resilience to the eects of the changing environment. General marine conservation laws oer important protection to coral reefs even if corals are not directly mentioned. Many of the protections Many Latin American and Caribbean countries with a strong interest in needed to preserve the marine environment inside and outside