A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

18 MARINE AND COASTAL
PROTECTED AREAS
Photo by Erkki Siirila.
The variety of species offers us opportunities for the discovery of new uses for
them, as in medicine and mariculture (the farming of marine organisms). The genetic
variation within a species offers opportunities to refine its uses, for example, by
selective breeding for increased growth rate or resistance to diseases.
The application of marine taxa in biomedical research and pharmacology is a
real value backed up by numerous examples. Many marine organisms have highly
active biochemical compounds that have yielded extracts with direct antimicrobial,
antileukemic, anticoagulant and cardio-active properties. The species producing
these compounds may be important in the direct production of pharmaceuticals, such
as anticancer drugs, or their compounds may provide models for the synthesis of new
and effective drugs.
The value of wild genetic resources in the improvement of terrestrial food
crops and livestock has been convincingly demonstrated, but examples of marine
applications are largely lacking.
Given the expanding development of mariculture worldwide, especially for
prawns, oysters, mussels, and salmon, wild genetic material will inevitably be
increasingly drawn upon to improve farmed stock. Most stock for mariculture is
obtained from the wild, such as
FIGURE I-5.
seaweeds, turtle eggs and hatchlings,
edible oyster and mussel spat,
pearl oysters, juvenile prawns, and
milkfish fry.
The underwater forests of giant kelp around Santa Catalina Island
(California) provide feeding areas for a wide variety of marine
organisms including the Garibaldi (in the foreground).
1.3 Preserving Biodiversity
In situ protection of species
(protecting them in their natural
habitats) offers the best method
for preserving genetic diversity. In
situ protection requires habitat
conservation, and this is best
achieved by establishing MPAs
(Figure I-5).
For the purposes of this discussion, marine biodiversity is taken simply as the variety
of life forms (species, communities, populations) in the seas and along the coasts of
our ocean planet. However, underlying this simplistic definition is the understanding
that these life forms in their various assemblages are the expressions of a variety of
processes, and that these processes are integral components of biodiversity. Species
and their environment are inextricably linked through complex interrelationships, and
it is these synergistic feedbacks that sustain the structure and functioning of ecosystems
(Perrings et al., 1992).