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| 20 July 1998 Marine protected areas range from small, highly regulated reserves to large, multiple use areas in which conservation is integrated with socio-economic activities i.e. tourism. There are as many different roles for marine protected areas as there are names. Less than one per cent of the planet’s marine surface has been designated ”protected”, compared to more than six per cent of land. The need for marine protected areas to be identified and acknowledged in order to safeguard endangered species, fisheries habitats and breeding sites has never been so urgent. MPAs can play an essential role in sustaining commercially and locally important fisheries as well as protecting critical habitats for threatened and important marine species. A tremendous range of biodiversity and productivity exists in the offshore environment, but currently, fewer than 50 per cent of existing marine protected areas are effectively managed, due to insufficient resources. The adoption of a new annex to the OSPAR Convention at Sintra will offer new opportunities to provide the protection necessary for important deep water and offshore habitats, as well as species such as whales, dolphins, sharks and marine invertebrates such as cold water corals - for which little or no protection currently exists. This would begin to fulfil the commitments given at the 1995 Esbjerg North Sea Ministerial Conference. Indeed, marine habitats more than 12 nautical miles from the coast fall outside the umbrella of European legislation, and as a consequence many diverse and highly productive areas remain unprotected. In adopting Annex V and an OSPAR Strategy for the protection and conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity , the North-East Atlantic countries will start to catch up with the Helsinki (Baltic Sea), Barcelona (Mediterranean Sea) and Bucharest (Black Sea) Conventions and/or the Arctic Environment Protection Strategy, regional frameworks that have paid considerable attention to the protection of coastal and marine species and habitats Although WWF welcomes the new annex, we remain concerned that an integrated approach cannot be achieved when major impacts, such as entanglement in nets (bycatch), damage from fishing gear and impacts from mariculture and shipping are excluded. WWF will be calling upon Ministers at OSPAR to make a strong commitment to protect marine wildlife and habitats by designating and managing a network of marine protected areas within the North East Atlantic. WWF has identified a number of sites which would qualify as offshore marine protected areas, including the Dogger Bank in the southern North Sea, the waters west of the German island Sylt, the Sula Ridge west of mid-Norway, the Western Irish Sea Front, the Rockall Bank and Trough to the west of the British Isles and the Celtic Shelf Break to the south-west of England. For further information please contact Cherry Farrow on (+44) 0468 721 170 or David Cowdrey on (+44) 0370 238 068. The WWF delegation will be staying at the Hotel Sintra: Telephone: + 35 11 46 90 721 Fax: + 35 11 46 90 740 |