Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea
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Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea A collaborative study by IUCN, WWF and MedPAN1 With the support of the UNEP Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (UNEP RAC/SPA) 1 Network of Managers of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the WWF, or IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of WWF or IUCN. This publication is a contribution of the IUCN Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Science Group. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Malaga, Spain and WWF World Wide Fund for Nature, France. Copyright: © 2008 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and WWF World Wide Fund for Nature Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Ameer Abdulla, Marina Gomei, Elodie Maison, and Catherine Piante (2008) Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea. IUCN, Malaga and WWF, France. 152 pp. Authors are listed in alphabetic order as they contributed equally to this work ISBN: 978-2-8317-1097-6 Legal deposit: Design & layout by: ATEA (www.atea.es) Peer reviewers: Tundi Agardy (Sound Seas), Elizabeth De Santo (IUCN Global Marine Programme), Dan Laffoley (IUCN WCPA), Sebastien Mabile (Lycias Partners), Tony Rouphael (IUCN WCPA), Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara (IUCN WCPA, Tethys Research Institute), and Louisa Wood (IUCN Global Marine Programme). Photos by: Marina Gomei, Andrea Molinari, Mohamed Najih, Bayram Oztürk, Christine Pergent, Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, LeonardoTunesi, Maurizio Wurtz. Produced by: IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation Publication Management: Chadi Abi Faraj Printed by: Solprint, Mijas (Malaga), Spain Available from: IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation C/ Marie Curie 35 29590 Campanillas, Malaga, Spain Tel: +34 952 028430 - Fax: +34 952 028145 www.iucn.org/publications and WWF France, 1, Carrefour de Longchamp - 75116 Paris, France Phone: +33 1 55 25 84 84 Fax: +33 1 55 25 84 85 E-Mail: [email protected] and [email protected] This book is printed on paper Acknowledgements This document has been made possible thanks to the generous contribution of many experts from all around the Mediterranean and overseas. In this regard, the authors wish to sincerely thank all MPA managers and their teams as well as scientists and experts who have dedicated time in responding our long questionnaire: Milena Tempesta (Miramare), Marie-Laure Licari (Cerbère-Banyuls), Victoria Riera (Cap de Creus), Frédéric Bachet (Côte Bleue), Javier Zapata (Iles Chafarinas), Philippe Robert (Pelagos Sanctuary), Marianne Laudato (Straits of Bonifacio), Robert Turk (Cape Madona, Debeli Rtiç and Strunjan), Mohammed Jabran (Al Hoceima), Jose Amengual (Cabrera), Ghassan Jaradi (Palm Island), Vassilis Kouroutos (Alonissos), Nicolas Gérardin and Thierry Houard (Port-Cros), François Arrighi (Scandola), Eliezer Frankenberg and Ruth Yahel (Israeli MPAs and in particula Rosh Haniqra), Laurent Sourbes (Zakynthos), Emilio Maria-Dolores Pedrero (Cabo de Palos – Islas Hormigas), Carmen Mifsud, Duncan Borg and Christopher Cousin (Zona fil-bahar bejn Rdum Majjiesa u Ras ir-Raheb and Zona fil-bahar fl-inhawi tad-Dwejra, Gozo), Wassila Sahnoun (Habibas Islands), Giacomo Montauti (Archipelago Toscano), Simone Atzeri (Capo Carbonara), Alessandro Montemaggiori (Isole di Ventotene e Santo Stefano), Paolo D’Ambrosio (Porto Cesareo), Simonetta Fraschetti (Torre Guaceto), Gianfranco Mazza (Plemmirio), Piero Cappa (Capo Rizzuto), Emanuele Mollica (Isole Ciclopi), Augusto Navone (Isole Tavolara – Punta Coda Cavallo), Antonino Miccio (Punta Campanella), Giuseppe Sorrentino (Isole Pelagie), Simone Bava (Portofino), Gianfranco Russino (Capo Caccia – Isola Piana), Michele Guidato (Isole Tremiti), Vincenzo Satta (Arcipelago la Maddalena), Giorgio Massaro (Penisola del Sinis), Alessandro Polinori (Secche di Tor Paterno), Vladislav Mihelcic ( Kornati), Veronica Tardelli (Cinque Terre), Nuria Muñoz (Medes Islands), Osvin Pecar (Mljet), Zrinka Jakl (Lastovo), Vittorio Gazale (Asinara), Bruno Blanchy (Corail Rouge and Larvotto), Mahmoud Chihaoui (Zembra and Zembretta), Pablo Guerrero, Jesus Cabello (El Estrecho), Jose Maria Montoro (Acantilados Maro Cerro Gordo), Emilio Retamosa (Cabo de Gata Nijar), Jose Bedoya Herrador, Juan Carlos Nevado (Alborán), Ahmet Birsel, Emrah Manap, and Atila Uras (Turkish MPAs), Myroula Hadjichristophorou (MPAs of Cyprus), Jose Bedoya (Spanish Fisheries Reserves). We also want to thank the following experts who have provided essential data to the survey: Paolo Casale (WWF-Italy), Giorgos Paximadis (WWF-Greece), Steven Piel and Laurent Germain (French MPA Agency), Pilar Marcos (WWF-Spain), Sophie Condé and Marie-Paule Hindermeyer-Vignault (European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle), Cécile Sorbier (Narbonnaise), Zamir Dedej; Marion Broquère (IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation). A special thank to Nadine Marshall (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems) for the useful fruitful discussions and suggestions in the data analysis. Thanks also to Sarah Gotheil, Miles Heggadon, and Dania Abdul Malak. This publication has been made possible in part by funding from: Agence des Aires Marines Protégées, Région Provence Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, EU Interreg IIIC Initiative of the European Union, Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare of Italy, Junta de Andalucia of Spain, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente of Spain. Table of Contents Forewords ................................................................................................. 10 1. An overview ........................................................................................... 14 2. Introduction ........................................................................................... 20 2.1 Background ..................................................................................... 22 • The Mediterranean: a threatened Sea ..................................... 22 • The Mediterranean Sea: a heritage to conserve .................... 25 2.2 Marine Protected Areas and MPA Networks ................................ 28 2.3 Legal framework for the establishment of a network of MPAs in the Mediterranean ............................................................ 29 3. Methodology ......................................................................................... 30 3.1 Identifying of existing MPAs ...................................................... 32 • Criteria to identify MPAs for the survey ................................ 32 • Data sources ........................................................................ 33 3.2 Survey and questionnaire design .............................................. 33 3.3 Questionnaire response rate ..................................................... 35 3.4 Analysis of data ......................................................................... 35 4. Results .................................................................................................. 36 4.1 CBD target of protection of 10% is not likely to be achieved in the Mediterranean .................................................. 38 4.2 The current Mediterranean MPA system is not representative or coherent ........................................................ 39 • Existing MPAs are not completely representative of Mediterranean habitats .................................................... 39 • Spacing among Mediterranean MPAs is too wide to maintain larval connectivity ............................................. 43 4.3 Management in Mediterranean MPAs needs to be more effective ........................................................................... 43 • Existence and status of management plans ......................... 43 • Monitoring and evaluation ................................................... 44 • Information availability on habitats and species ................... 45 • Compliance with MPA regulations: known illegal activities, law enforcement and surveillance ........................ 49 • Staff employed ..................................................................... 50 • Facilities and equipment ...................................................... 50 • Funding and business planning ........................................... 51 • Overall management effectiveness evaluation ..................... 51 4.3 Local, regional, and global pressures threatening Mediterranean MPAs ................................................................. 54 • Introduced and invasive species .......................................... 54 • Perception of threats ........................................................... 56 5. Discussion and Conclusions .................................................................. 60 5.1 CBD target of protection of 10% is not likely to be achieved in the Mediterranean .................................................. 62 5.2 The current Mediterranean MPA system