Publication Name
Discovery News
Author(s)
Kieran Mulvaney
Last year, members of the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed that "by 2020, at least ... 10 percent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, [should be] conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas."
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Speaking at the second International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) in Victoria, British Columbia, Laffoley pointed out that the line of progress is trending upward, particularly as a result of the addition of several significant reserves: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, established by President George W. Bush in 2006; Sala y Gomez, covering the area around Easter Island and established by the Chilean government last October; and the Chagos Marine Reserve, decreed in April 2010 with what was effectively the final decision of the ousted Labor government in the UK, encompassing a huge area of the Indian Ocean and surrounding the military base of Diego Garcia.
The reserves that are being added are also getting bigger. At the time of its establishment, Papahānaumokuākea was the largest contiguous no-take marine reserve in the world; it has since been surpassed by Chagos, which covers an area of 544,000 square kilometers (210,000 square miles) and contains the biggest, and one of the healthiest, coral atolls in the world. But, Chagos looks set to surrender its briefly-held crown in the near future, Jay Nelson of the Pew Environment Trust's Global Ocean Legacy project told the IMCC.
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Read the full article Marine Reserves Pick Up Pace of Ocean Protection by visiting the Discovery News website.
