Protecting Marine Areas In The Mediterranean

Oceana MedNet is the first comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) for the Mediterranean that details specific locations. The proposal includes 100 sites distributed throughout the basin, covering an extension of over 200,000 km2. By adding this area to the existing MPAs, 12 per cent of the Mediterranean would be protected, exceeding the minimum established by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Despite being considered one of the planet’s most important areas for marine biodiversity, the Mediterranean (2,500,000km2) is practically in the same state as the rest of the world’s seas and currently only four per cent of its area is protected. This protection is concentrated in the coastal area (except for the Sanctuary in the Ligurian Sea 87,500km2) and the basin’s northern shore, leaving the high seas and the southern shore completely unprotected. Thus, the current network of MPAs is neither representative nor coherent.

The proposal presented today covers these gaps. The sites for Oceana MedNet were selected systematically using the most important seamounts as reference points, following Oceana’s line of research. The network was completed with the addition of other areas considered especially important in the Mediterranean due to exclusivity, productivity, vulnerability, biodiversity or presence of endangered or threatened species, according to CBD criteria.

“Oceana MedNet is an example of how current knowledge can lead to the creation of an effective network of Marine Protected Areas”, explains Ricardo Aguilar, director of research for Oceana Europe. “The destruction of the oceans is occurring faster than advances are being made in scientific research and, if we wait until we have detailed biological data about each site, it will be too late. On the other hand, by applying the precautionary principle, we can protect the most important areas, because we currently have knowledge about the geological and oceanographic characteristics that generate habitats with increased biodiversity or vulnerability.”

Thus, the proposal presented today includes a wide variety of sites, such as seamounts, banks, canyons, slopes, trenches, ridges, mud volcanoes, gas seeps, carbonate mounts, etc. Although these habitats are less well-known than seagrass beds or coral reefs, they are equally important. The CBD considers that the proposed sites are important enough from a biological and ecological perspective, and that they require effective protection.

Apart from including a wide variety of areas, Oceana MedNet also includes extensive areas (with a minimum of 200km2 and a maximum of 15,200km2). In addition, planning for Oceana MedNet also takes into account main currents and gyres, in order to potentially and effectively connect the different areas.

To date, different initiatives have been developed regionally to contribute to the protection of the Mediterranean Sea and its resources. However, these proposals include extensive areas lacking in specific geographic details and, in some cases, are biased in favor of the pelagic environment.

“Unlike previous proposals, Oceana MedNet contains defined and specific locations, not extensive, priority areas for conservation,” points out Pilar Marín, marine scientist at Oceana. “With this initiative, Oceana provides the tools necessary to contribute to the protection of 10% of the Mediterranean before 2012. The next step depends on the political will of the different national and regional administrations and agencies, with support from scientific institutions and non-governmental organisations.

Biological Diversity established the clear objective of effectively protecting at least 10 per cent of the world’s marine regions by 2012. Today, we are far from reaching the objective, which was postponed until 2020 due to the passiveness of the various governments. Currently, less than one per cent of the planet’s oceans are protected and the global trend in declaring MPAs has proven insufficient and excessively slow. At this rate, the minimum percentage would be reached in 2067.

Oceana’s proposal aims to promote the achievement of this objective by applying the Precautionary Principle recommended by various international organisations, not only from a conservationist perspective, but also from the point of view of conserving fishing resources.