University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts 2010 Meeting global goals at regional scales and in the high seas Caitlyn Toropova Richard Kenchington University of Wollongong, [email protected] Marjo Vierros Georgina Bustamante Robert Glazer See next page for additional authors Publication Details Toropova, C., Kenchington, R. Ambrose., Vierros, M., Bustamante, G., Glazer, R., Vanzella-Khouri, A., Karibuhoye, C., Wenzel, L., Hibino, K., Tan, M. K., Meliane, I., Gjerde, K. and Lefebvre, C. (2010). Meeting global goals at regional scales and in the high seas. In C. Toropova, I. Meliane, D. Laffoley, E. Matthews and M. Spalding (Eds.), Global Ocean Protection: Present Status and Future Possibilities (pp. 41-60). Switzerland: IUCN. Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Meeting global goals at regional scales and in the high seas Abstract The se tablishment of MPAs is, in essence, a political process and to this end the great majority of MPAs have been established by national authorities, or by state authorities in some larger naitons. Of course oceanographic pattern and processes have no cognizance of political boundaries. Over the last decade, many regional organizations have been dedicating efforts to mprove larger-scale MPA planning and management. Keywords global, regional, goals, high, scales, seas, meeting Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Law Publication Details Toropova, C., Kenchington, R. Ambrose., Vierros, M., Bustamante, G., Glazer, R., Vanzella-Khouri, A., Karibuhoye, C., Wenzel, L., Hibino, K., Tan, M. K., Meliane, I., Gjerde, K. and Lefebvre, C. (2010). Meeting global goals at regional scales and in the high seas. In C. Toropova, I. Meliane, D. Laffoley, E. Matthews and M. Spalding (Eds.), Global Ocean Protection: Present Status and Future Possibilities (pp. 41-60). Switzerland: IUCN. Authors Caitlyn Toropova, Richard Kenchington, Marjo Vierros, Georgina Bustamante, Robert Glazer, Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri, Charlotte Karibuhoye, Lauren Wenzel, Kohei Hibino, M K. Tan, Imen Meliane, Kristina Gjerde, and Christophe Lefebvre This book chapter is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/lhapapers/564 Global Ocean Protection Present Status and Future Possibilities Editors: Caitlyn Toropova, Imèn Meliane, Dan Laffoley, Elizabeth Matthews and Mark Spalding Global Ocean Protection Present Status and Future Possibilities Editors: Caitlyn Toropova, Imèn Meliane, Dan Laffoley, Elizabeth Matthews and Mark Spalding The designation of geographical entities and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, UNEP, United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies, l’Agence des aires marines protégées, Wildlife Conservation Society or other contributory organisations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, company or area or its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, UNEP, United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies, l’Agence des aires marines protégées, Wildlife Conservation Society, or other contributory organisations. This publication has been made possible in part by funding from The Nature Conservancy, l’Agence des aires marines protégées and Wildlife Conservation Society. Support for the analysis described in Chapter 3 was provided through the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (www.twentyten.net), a GEF-funded initiative providing information on biodiversity trends and global progress towards the CBD 2010 Target. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, USA, UNEP-WCMC, Cam- bridge, UK, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya, UNU-IAS, Tokyo, Japan, Agence des aires marines proté- gées, Brest, France Copyright: © 2010 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is au- thorized 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: Toropova, C., Meliane, I., Laffoley, D., Matthews, E. and Spalding, M. (eds.) (2010). Global Ocean Protection: Present Status and Future Possibilities. Brest, France: Agence des aires marines protégées, Gland, Switzerland, Washington, DC and New York, USA: IUCN WCPA, Cambridge, UK : UNEP-WCMC, Arlington, USA: TNC, Tokyo, Japan: UNU, New York, USA: WCS. 96pp. For individual chapters: Lead Authors. (2010). ‘Title of the chapter’. In C. Toropova, I. Me- liane, D. Laffoley, E. Matthews and M. Spalding (eds.) Global Ocean Protection: Present Status and Future Possibilities. Brest, France: Agence des aires marines protégées, Gland, Switzerland, Washington, DC and New York, USA: IUCN WCPA, Cambridge, UK : UNEP-WC- MC, Arlington, USA: TNC, Tokyo, Japan: UNU, New York, USA: WCS 96pp. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1311-3 Designed by: Georgios Sarantakos, IUCN Cover photos: Upper left: © Mark Godfrey, TNC; Upper middle: © Mito Paz; Upper right: © Louise Goggin Lower left: © Gerick Bergsma; Lower middle: © Jerker Tamelander, IUCN; Lower right: © Louise Goggin Printed by: Linemark Printing, Inc. an EPA Green Partner Preface Small island cultures, like ours in Micronesia, have been shaped by our surrounding oceans. Indeed, we would not know who we are, or what will become of us, without sustenance from our marine resources. Today, more than ever, greater and more innovative effort must be made to protect and maintain our biodiversity and ecosystem structure, functions and processes, as anthropogenic and natural threats continue to escalate. Equally important is increased and more effective effort to ensure that the benefits derived from these resources are equitably distributed among all users. With climate change currently identified as the greatest threat to biodiversity, there may be an inclination to neglect community-based marine protected areas, as more focus shifts towards a global system of protected areas, and while we certainly need to do this, we also cannot afford to forget or abandon the small-scale marine protected areas, because they are the foundation and starting point of any larger marine protected areas. Without effective protected areas at the village or community level, there can never be a successful global protected areas system. Therefore, much effort and attention is still required at the local level, not only to provide assistance towards their success, but to also receive valuable lessons from them towards a successful global system of protected areas. For example, customary marine tenure, which has been practiced over centuries, tried and tested by islanders, must hold some of the answers and ‘innovative’ solutions we seek today towards our vision of a global system of protected areas. The use of protected areas to facilitate the maintenance and recovery of biological resources has been practiced by Pacific island communities for centuries in accordance with customary practices and spiritual beliefs. Such concepts of ecosystem approach, adaptive management and marine protected areas are generally perceived to be relatively recent developments of Western origin, when in fact, they have been in practice in our small islands in Micronesia, as well as the rest of the Pacific Island countries, for over a millennium. Due to colonization, western influence and globalization, we have adopted new ways of using our marine protected areas (MPAs), exploring various forms of management and collaboration at the local level, the national level and even at the regional level. At present, we have a wide range of MPA systems throughout the Pacific Islands, including those managed by communities, by local and national governments, as well as various types of co-management in between. However, in the Federated States of Micronesia, our traditional marine management system, based on our customs via our traditional chiefs, cultural beliefs and values remains one of our best marine management tools simply because it has proven to work and continues to be culturally appropriate for us. Without a doubt, in my country, in other Micronesian countries, and even many island nations across the globe, customary marine tenure and community-based management systems remain one of our most important approaches we use to protect our biodiversity, our livelihood and our future. Micronesia has implemented efforts to establish nation-wide protected areas networks (PANs) and has initiated a regional collaborative effort, the Micronesia Challenge initiative, to further drive our individual and collective efforts in marine biodiversity conservation. The Micronesia Challenge (MC) is fully described in this publication and we are proud to be seen as a leader and innovator in marine protection. This publication provides a much needed and timely tool to assist us in our collective effort to find new and better solutions to address the various threats to our marine biological diversity and productivity. It provides evidence-based recommendations on improving and accelerating actions on delivering