The last two months has produce a flood of announcements on new and larger MPAs, however, after a 25 year campaign by the residents, the Scottish Government have declared an MPA around Fair Isle.

MPA News has highlighted the remarkable nature of the last couple of months in relation to announcements. MPA News provides a mine of information on the MPAs on a world wide scale. This article covers three topics that have emerged over the last week and which illustrate the scale and global nature of progress with MPAs including:

• The declaration of the Fair Isle MPA by Scottish Government
• The Ross Sea announcement from Antarctic Convention meeting
• The new IUCN goal on MPA targets

Fair Isle community celebrating after winning marine protected area status – at last!

Shetland News: ‘The community of Fair Isle is rejoicing after a campaign lasting around quarter of a century finally resulted in the waters around the island being designated as a marine protection area (MPA). Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham made the announcement at the Marine Conservation Society’s annual conference in Edinburgh. Residents of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS)-owned island, which lies between Shetland and Orkney, have long argued for an MPA to be created so fishermen and the wider community can gain some of the benefits enjoyed by MPAs in New Zealand, Finland and elsewhere. While there are around 30 MPAs in Scotland already, the Fair Isle one will be different in that it has been a grassroots, community-led initiative. The Fair Isle Marine Environment and Tourism Initiative (FIMETI) was set up in 1995 out of concern at “steady and unremitting damage” to the marine environment. FIMETI has lobbied alongside the island’s bird observatory and the NTS for the creation of an MPA. Islanders argue that sustainable management of the marine area around Fair Isle will have a positive impact on the environment, tourism, education and research.’

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World’s largest marine park created in Ross Sea in Antarctica in landmark deal

EU and 24 countries sign long-awaited agreement to protect 1.1m sq km of water in Southern Ocean, ensuring that fewer younger fish will be caught. A landmark international agreement to create the world’s largest marine park in the Southern Ocean has been brokered in Australia, after five years of compromises and failed negotiations. More than 1.5m sq km of the Ross Sea around Antarctica will be protected under the deal brokered between 24 countries and the European Union. It means 1.1m sq km of it – an area about the size of France and Spain combined – will be set aside as a no-take “general protection zone”, where no fishing will be allowed. Significantly, the protections are set to expire in 35 years. The agreement came on Friday at the conclusion of two weeks of discussions between delegates from 24 countries and the EU in Hobart, at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Click here to read more 

IUCN Members Approve 30%-by-2030 Goal for MPAs — Most Ambitious Target So Far for MPA Coverage

MPA news ‘The biggest marine news from the IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Hawai’i in September, was the approval by IUCN members of a new global target for MPAs. It calls for “30% of each marine habitat” to be set aside in “highly protected MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures” by 2030, with the ultimate aim being ”a fully sustainable ocean, at least 30% of which has no extractive activities.” Readers of MPA News will notice the similarity to a recommendation that was made at the 2014 World Parks Congress in Sydney, which also called for a 30% MPA target. However, that earlier recommendation did not include a deadline. In addition it was not formally approved by IUCN’s membership, which comprises a mix of government agencies and NGOs.

On the new target, 129 member states and government agencies voted in favour, and 16 against (for background on countries that opposed it, go here). Among the NGO members, 621 were for and 37 against. IUCN’s members meet in plenary session every four years. Although the 30%-by-2030 target is not binding on nations, it does represent the most ambitious target adopted so far for the MPA community. As has been seen with Aichi Target 11 — which calls for 10% MPA coverage by 2020 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity — such percentage-based targets have helped motivate governments to designate MPAs. The latest global assessment by IUCN finds that 10.2% of waters within national jurisdictions are now in MPAs — an increase of 1.8% in just the past two years. (For the entire global ocean including high seas, MPA coverage is at 4.1%.) Click here to read more.