Systematic selection of conservation priority areas for MPA design: an application to the East African Coast
Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The designation of marine protected areas has become a widespread strategy for coastal and marine ecosystems conservation and management. MPA planning and management has to be incorporated into a comprehensive framework for the coastal area, as its resources are critical to the livelihoods of coastal communities, especially in the Western Indian Ocean region. MPA planning and management has to be incorporated into a comprehensive strategy for the coastal area. MPAs of the Eastern African coast do not fully represent all of the important habitats found in the region’s coastal zone, and many of them lack the minimum features needed to ensure effective management. However countries in the region recognize the urgent need for better and more effective management of the coastal and marine resources. The use of mathematical algorithms coupled with geographic information systems provides an explicit and transparent mechanism for identifying maps of alternative reserve network scenarios that efficiently represent the full range of biodiversity. We explored the utilization of the support decision software Marxan, coupled with a developed R-Manifold solution, to produce and evaluate several different portfolios, particularly in Mnazi Bay Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park, Tanzania. The final reserve system configurations produced to this Marine Park indicate that the established Core zones may not be the most important conservation areas for the consevation features considered. Moreover the Marxan-R-Manifold solution developed showed how versatile and flexible interpretation of Marxan outputs can be, providing several levels of relevant information for reserve design configuration. Management frameworks and strategies should be improved and based on long-term perspectives, as the costal and marine environment is constantly evolving and being altered by human activities and as new information arises. The conservation and sustainable development of the marine environment is an issue of pressing global concern, and it is urgent to find a balance between political and socio-economic issues and ecological and nature conservation principles.
Author: Laura Inês Henriques Antão
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2283681609