Marine Protected Area Network Strategy for the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Bioregion

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• List of Initialisms and Acronyms
• Introduction
• Geographic Scope
• Vision
• Definitions
  • Marine Protected Area
  • Network of Marine Protected Areas
• Expected Benefits of the Network
• Guiding Principles
• Design Elements of the Network
  • Goals
  • Network Design Properties and Components
  • Strategic Conservation Objectives
  • Economic, Social and Cultural Considerations
• Network Design Phases
  • Identify and Involve Interested Parties Throughout the Process
  • Determine the Strategic Conservation Objectives and Guiding Economic and Social Principles
  • Gather, Map and Analyse the Best Available Ecological, Economic, Social and Cultural Information
  • Define Marine Protected Area Network Design Options
  • Develop a Marine Protected Area Network Design
  • Implement the Network Design by the Responsible Authorities
  • Manage and Monitor the Marine Protected Area Network
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1
  • Glossary of Terms
• Appendix 2
  • Network Design Phases

Appendix 1

Glossary of Terms

Adaptive management

A systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of previously used policies and practices.

Adequacy and viability

Adequate and viable sites indicate that all sites within a network should have size and protection sufficient to ensure the ecological viability and integrity of the feature(s) for which they were selected (Annex III– Azores Report).

Biological diversity

The full range of variety and variability within and among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur; the diversity they encompass at the ecosystem, community, species and genetic levels; and the interaction of these components.

Biological productivity

The production of plant and animal matter; nature’s ability to reproduce and regenerate living matter.

Community knowledge

Knowledge or expertise held by communities (e.g., fishing community), characterized by common or communal ownership.

Connectivity

Connectivity in the design of a network allows for linkages whereby protected sites benefit from larval and/or species exchanges, and functional linkages from other network sites. In a connected network individual sites benefit one another (Annex III– Azores Report).

Conservation

The maintenance or sustainable use of the Earth’s resources in order to maintain ecosystem, species and genetic diversity and the evolutionary and other processes that shape them. In the context of the IUCN definition of an MPA, conservation refers to the in situ maintenance of ecosystems and natural and semi-natural habitats and of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings.

Ecosystem approach

A strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way (CBD 2004).

Ecosystem integrity

Refers to the degree to which a given area (potential MPA) functions as an effective, self-sustaining ecological unit. MPAs will be designed at an ecosystem level, recognizing patterns of connectivity within and among ecosystems. In general, an MPA that is designed to protect a diverse array of habitat types will also conserve the ecological processes and integrity of the ecosystems.

Ecosystem (or ecological) services

Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as regulation of floods, drought, land degradation, and disease; supporting services such as soil formation and nutrient cycling; and cultural services such as recreational, spiritual, religious and other nonmaterial benefits.

Ecosystem-based management

Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is the management of human activities to ensure that marine ecosystems, their structure (e.g., biological diversity), function (e.g., productivity) and overall environmental quality (e.g., water and habitat quality) are not compromised and are maintained at appropriate temporal and spatial scales.

High water mark

Line which marks the shoreline and banks of lakes and waterways. The high water mark or natural high water mark is located in:

1. the transition zone where predominantly terrestrial plants succeed predominantly aquatic plants, or where there are no aquatic plants, the point closest to the water where terrestrial plants no longer grow;
2. if the information is available, the 2-year flood limit, considered to correspond to the mark established according to the botanical criteria defined above.

Holistic approach

Involves expanding the field of observation of scientific disciplines, but requires multidisciplinarity and a multi-scale approach. The objective is to understand the interactions between the biology of living beings and environmental conditions where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Integrated Oceans Management

A continuous process by which decisions are made for the sustainable use, development and protection of areas and resources.

Precautionary approach

A management approach which recognizes that the absence of full scientific certainty will not be used as a reason for postponing decisions where there is a risk of serious or irreversible harm.

Other effective area-based conservation measures

Spatial marine management measure that does not meet the definition of a marine protected area, but that contributes to marine conservation in Canada.

Protection

Any regulatory or other provision to reduce the risk of negative impact of human activities on an area.

Representativity

Representativity is captured in a network when it consists of areas representing the different biogeographical subdivisions of the global oceans and regional seas that reasonably reflect the full range of ecosystems, including the biotic and habitat diversity of those marine ecosystems (Annex III– Azores Report).

Resilience (ecological)

The ability of a system to undergo, absorb and respond to change and disturbance whilst maintaining its functions and controls.

Sustainable development

Development that meets current requirements without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ^{Footnote 7}

Sustainable use

The use of components of biological diversity in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations (1995 Canadian Biodiversity Strategy).