A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

146 MARINE AND COASTAL
PROTECTED AREAS
broader instruments that also recommend the establishment of MPAs (e.g., the
Ramsar Convention). A short summary of each treaty and their relevance to MPAs
follows (de Fontaubert et al., 1996).
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 after nearly 10 years of negotiation. It was
dubbed “a new constitution for the oceans” because it aims to regulate practically
all marine activities in any area of the sea. Agenda 21 (discussed below) declares that
UNCLOS “provides the legal basis upon which to pursue the protection and sustainable
development of the marine environment and its coastal resources.” Though it was
opened for signature in 1982, UNCLOS did not come into force until 1994 because
of a controversial part of the Convention that deals with deep seabed mining.
UNCLOS provides that coastal States have exclusive jurisdiction for various
matters over designated zones of the oceans along their coasts, including coastal zones
(this area of jurisdiction usually extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines).
At the same time, coastal States are obliged under Articles 192 and 61.2 to conserve
and manage the living marine resources under their jurisdiction. States also have
obligations to protect the marine environment and conserve its living resources
beyond areas of national jurisdiction. In addition, States are obligated to share
monitoring and assessment information and also to collaborate at the national level
to undertake additional studies concerning the marine environment.
Under UNCLOS, therefore, coastal States have every right to designate marine
areas as protected, so long as they aim to fulfill their obligations to protect and
preserve the marine environment (Art. 192) or ensure that the maintenance of living
resources is not endangered by over-exploitation. Furthermore, by calling on States
to collaborate in areas beyond national jurisdiction on a global and regional basis to
protect and preserve the marine environment (Art. 197), UNCLOS opens the door to
the designation of areas of the high seas as MPAs.
The rights and obligations of States under UNCLOS are clearly and thoroughly
reviewed in The Law of the Sea: Priorities and Responsibilities in Implementing the
Convention (Kimball, 1995).
UNCED: Chapter 17 of Agenda 21. In the course of the UN Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) all participating States negotiated and
adopted Agenda 21, a blueprint for sustainable development. Agenda 21 is divided
in 40 chapters. One of them, Chapter 17, addresses “Protection of the Oceans, all kinds
of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the
protection, rational use and development of their living resources.” One of the main
sections of Chapter 17 deals with integrated management and sustainable development
of coastal and marine areas and calls on coastal States to undertake “measures to
maintain biological diversity and productivity of marine species under national
jurisdiction, … including … establishment and management of protected areas.”