A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

228 MARINE AND COASTAL
PROTECTED AREAS
Photo by R. Salm.
FIGURE II-38.
A trail through a dune forest should be placed in the
valley behind the primary or secondary dune.
(Umhlanga Nature Reserve, South Africa.) It should
be stepped down slopes by pegging logs at intervals,
and should be leveled and secured along inclines by
planking that is partly buried and pegged in place.
Seasonally limited access to islands or
island habitats. Human activities on islands
should be timed to avoid disrupting species
during critical phases, like turtles and
seabirds during their nesting period and
seals and sea lions during their mating and
pupping season. Certain Great Barrier Reef
seabird nesting islands are closed to visitors
during the nesting season. Construction of
earthworks that may disturb the nesting
mutton bird or shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)
are halted between October and May on
Heron Island; the birds migrate after
breeding.
Spatially restricted access. Where access
to ground-nesting seabird sites is permitted,
people should be restricted to the edge of the
colonies and prohibited from moving among
the birds, as on Bird Island in the Seychelles,
islets off the windward coast of Oahu in
Hawaii, and in the Daymaniyat Islands
Nature Reserve in Oman. Forcing adult birds
from their nests can affect breeding success:
eggs and chicks are exposed to predators
and intense heat; chicks flee their nests and
are often attacked by adults as they attempt to return; food is regurgitated by both
chicks and adults, affecting their nutritional intake.
Many ground-nesting seabirds, particularly the nearshore nesters, change their
location in response to annual alteration in beach erosion and accretion and the growth
of vegetation. The siting of permanent facilities must take this into account.
Alien species. On any island protected area, every effort should be made to prevent
the introduction of alien species by people. This is difficult where only part of the
island is a protected area. Introduced species should be eradicated. Goats, for example,
have damaged numerous oceanic islands and coral cays (e.g., certain of the Galapagos
Islands and Round Island off Mauritius) and compete with indigenous herbivores,
like the giant tortoise on Aldabra World Heritage Site, Seychelles. To control the
introduction of species in the New Zealand “island nature reserves” (the strictest category
of New Zealand protected areas), visitors are required to do the following:
– Have permit issued by Director General of Lands and Survey
– Have themselves and their boats and equipment inspected for exotic plants, rats,
and other materials