Protecting Earth\u27s last conservation frontier: scientific, management and legal priorities for MPAs beyond national boundaries

1. Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) comprise most of Earth\u27s interconnected ocean, hosting complex ecosystems that play key roles in sustaining life and providing important goods and services. 2. Although ABNJ encompass nearly half the planet\u27s surface, biological diversity found in these areas remains largely unprotected. Mounting pressures generated by the escalation of human activities in ABNJ threaten vital ecosystem services and the fragile web of life that supports them. 3. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely acknowledged as an important tool for the conservation of biological diversity. Currently less than 1% of ABNJ are protected, with the vast majority of MPAs located in waters within national jurisdiction. 4. The existing legal framework for protection and sustainable use of ABNJ lacks common goals, principles or standards, multi-sectoral coordination and comprehensive geographic coverage to ensure conservation or good governance grounded in science-based decision-making, transparency, accountability and effective enforcement. 5. This paper highlights the urgency and importance of protecting the last conservation frontier on Earth. Key lessons for conservation in ABNJ can be learned from regional, cross-boundary and national experiences shared during the high seas governance workshop at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia in November 2014. 6. The intent of this paper is to inform the deliberations now underway in the United Nations General Assembly to develop a new legally binding international instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in ABNJ. It also aims to encourage further initiatives to protect and preserve our last conservation frontier using currently available mechanisms and powers consistent with international law

The Impact of Marine Litter in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean Sea: How Can We Protect MPAs?

2noreservedThe Mediterranean Sea is one of the most affected areas by marine litter in the world. Marine litter and in particular floating plastics have been found in the Mediterranean Sea in comparable quantities to those found in the five oceanic garbage patches and affect ecosystems and several species at different trophic level. A harmonized and integrated way to monitor, assess, and manage marine litter at Mediterranean level, particularly in areas of high ecological values as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), can help to monitor and develop mitigation measures to tackle this issue. Integrated monitoring tools that provide the necessary information to design and implement mitigation actions against marine litter in the Mediterranean basin are, therefore, needed also to support the current directives and regional action plans and have been developed. Actions that address the whole management cycle of marine litter, from monitoring and assessment to prevention and mitigation, as well as actions to strengthen networking between and among pelagic and coastal MPAs are needed.mixedFossi, Maria Cristina; Panti, CristinaFossi, Maria Cristina; Panti, Cristin