A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART I
Selection of Marine Protected Areas
8. Vulnerability: the area’s susceptibility to degradation by natural events or the
activities of people. Biotic communities associated with coastal habitats may
have a low tolerance to changes in environmental conditions, or they may exist
close to the limits of their tolerance (defined by water temperature, salinity,
turbidity, or depth). They may suffer such natural stresses as storms or prolonged
immersion that determine the extent of their development. Additional stress
(such as domestic or industrial pollution, excessive reductions in salinity, and
increases in turbidity from watershed mismanagement) may determine whether
there is total, partial, or no recovery from natural stress, or the area is totally
destroyed.
As an example: say conservation of biodiversity is the objective, then criteria
1-5 are most important, while factors behind criteria 6 and 8 will drive the focus of
management activities.
4.8 Regional Criteria
The contribution of an area to the conservation of shared resources and to a regional
network of protected areas can be assessed in the following terms:
1. Regional significance: the degree to which the area represents a characteristic
of the region, whether a natural feature, an ecological process, or a cultural site.
The role the area plays in contributing nutrients, materials, or support for species
(especially migratory ones) to the region as a whole should be evaluated. Both
ecological processes and natural resources are often shared among nations, so
areas contributing to the maintenance of species or ecosystems beyond national
boundaries should have higher ratings.
2. Subregional significance: the degree to which an area fills a gap in the network
of protected areas from the subregional perspective. This contribution may be
assessed by comparing the distribution of protected areas with subregional
characteristics. If a type of area is preserved in one subregion, that type should
also be protected in another subregion.
As an example, Criterion 1 is extremely important in the development of
regional collaboration for the conservation of shared resources, and would be a
determinant in the selection of sites in marine protected area components of the UNEP
Regional Seas Programme, for instance.
4.9 Pragmatic Criteria
The feasibility and appropriate timing of protection can be assessed in terms of the
following:
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