Final Report of the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards

Submitted to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

September 26, 2018

Rémi Bujold and Mary Simon,
Panel Co-Chairs

David Anderson
Darcy Dobell
Tom Hayes
Marc Léger
Maureen Thomas

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• Letter to Minister
• Summary of recommendations
• Introduction
• Principles
• Panel’s process
• What we heard
• Effectiveness of marine protected areas
• Recommendations
  1. Collaborative planning and design
  2. Crown-Indigenous relations
  3. Protection standards
  4. Marine spatial planning
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: List of intervenors and written submissions
• Appendix 2: Terms of reference for the National Advisory Panel on MPA Standards
• Appendix 3: Panel members
• Appendix 4: Glossary and acronyms

Effectiveness of marine protected areas

The IUCN sets out four broad standards as a foundation for evaluating key elements of effective MPAs:

• Good governance to recognize and promote the rights of Indigenous people and local communities, ensure clear accountability and decision-making arrangements, support meaningful stakeholder engagement, and maintain transparency and effective communication;
• Sound planning and design to ensure MPAs are established at the right scale, in the right places, for the right reasons, and with clear management plans including provisions for adaptation over time;
• Effective management to deliver well-constructed and defined conservation objectives while enabling compatible activities and uses. This includes restrictions on potentially damaging activities as defined by the rigorous application of science, Indigenous knowledge, and local knowledge. Building capacity for robust management, monitoring, and reporting is also important;
• Conservation outcomes that demonstrate successful long-term conservation of natural values along with associated ecosystem services and cultural values. These outcomes will be determined, in part, by the strength of protections.

The Panel agrees that these are important standards, and notes that they do not adequately capture the unique nature of the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples in Canada. To these four international standards, the Panel added a fifth:

• Crown-Indigenous relationships and Reconciliation to acknowledge the rights, title, and authorities of Indigenous peoples in the context of ocean protection and management. This includes ensuring legal recognition for Indigenous Protected Areas and supporting long-term Indigenous capacity for governance and stewardship.

These standards are fundamental to effective MPAs in Canada and formed the basis for our recommendations.