Conserving pattern and process in the Southern Ocean: designing a Marine Protected Area for the Prince Edward Islands

Lombard, A T; Reyers, B; Schonegevel, L Y

Title: Conserving pattern and process in the Southern Ocean: designing a Marine Protected Area for the Prince Edward Islands
Creator: Lombard, A T
Creator: Reyers, B
Creator: Schonegevel, L Y
Date Issued: 2007
Date: 2007
Type: text
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:7140
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011822
Description: South Africa is currently proclaiming a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of its sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. The objectives of the MPA are to: 1) contribute to a national and global representative system of MPAs, 2) serve as a scientific reference point to inform future management, 3) contribute to the recovery of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), and 4) reduce the bird bycatch of the toothfish fishery, particularly of albatrosses and petrels. This study employs systematic conservation planning methods to delineate a MPA within the EEZ that will conserve biodiversity patterns and processes within sensible management boundaries, while minimizing conflict with the legal toothfish fishery. After collating all available distributional data on species, benthic habitats and ecosystem processes, we used C-Plan software to delineate a MPA with three management zones: four IUCN Category Ia reserves (13% of EEZ); two Conservation Zones (21% of EEZ); and three Category IV reserves (remainder of EEZ). Compromises between conservation target achievement and the area required by the MPA are apparent in the final reserve design. The proposed MPA boundaries are expected to change over time as new data become available and as impacts of climate change become more evident.
Format: 16 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Lombard, A.T. and Reyers, B. and Schonegevel, L.Y. and Cooper, J. and Smith-Adao, L.B. and Nel, D.C. and Froneman, P.W. and Ansorge, I.J. and Bester, M.N. and Tosh, C.A. and Strauss, T. and Akkers, T. and Gon, Ofer and Leslie, R.W. and Chown, S.L. (2007) Conserving pattern and process in the Southern Ocean: designing a marine protected area for the Prince Edward Islands. Antarctic Science, 19 (1). pp. 39-54. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102007000077

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