Publication Date:
2020-12-31
Description:
Currently, almost 8% of the world’s oceans are designated marine protected areas (MPAs), the majority of which
are relatively small and under national jurisdiction. Several initiatives are presently underway in international
waters to establish large-scale MPAs, such as for the Southern Ocean under the Commission for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). By reviewing the MPA initiative in the Weddell Sea (WSMPA),
we aim to guide through the planning steps involved in developing an MPA in the high seas of the Southern
Ocean in the context of an international organisation, i.e. CCAMLR. We focus also on the associated sciencepolicy
discussion process. To this end, we examine the WSMPA roadmap retrospectively from its beginning in
2013 until today. We discuss the individual planning steps and how these have been designed in detail.
Throughout, we show that the planning of the WSMPA was based on a collaborative, science-based process that
exemplified best practice in applied science. Lastly, we also provide an outlook on the current situation regarding
the establishment of CCAMLR MPAs and point out that scientific best practice may not be sufficient to achieve
the consensus and political drive ultimately required for the designation of MPAs in the Southern Ocean.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
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