1.
The concept of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) is exceptionally broad and may defined as follows:
"Any area of the coastal zone or open ocean conferred some level of protection for the purpose of management of use of resources or protection of vulnerable or threatened habitats or species."(Agardy 1997)
Both among the general population and in the scientific community, it is very difficult to find people who oppose the idea of MPAs in principle. Indeed, a recent study conducted by the Ocean Conservancy found that 95% of the comments made during a recent hearing on MPAs in California were supportive of the protection (Hahn 2007).
The specific issue to be addressed in this proposal is that of No-Take Areas, or Marine Reserves. No-Take Reserves are designated areas of the ocean where exploitative or extractive uses are prohibited indefinitely (Guenette, Pitcher, & Walters 2000). Fundamentally, Marine Reserves possess attributes that set them apart from traditional marine management. Well-designed Marine Reserves are proactive rather than reactive; they act as an "insurance policy" against inaccuracies in science and policy, as well as against natural variability inherent in ecosystems what do you mean by this? why would we want to protect against variable ecosystems? I think you mean something else, so you should make that meaning clear. Right now it reads as if ecosystems with lots of variation/differences are bad. In another sense, setting aside regions of the ocean is akin to diversely investing one's assets for future growth and improved stability. Since they are ecosystem-based, Marine Reserves do not require large amounts of difficult-to-acquire, quantitative, species-specific data to be effective. At least from a purely scientific and ecological perspective, No-Take Zones are undoubtedly effective at achieving their goals. (PROVIDE HYPERLINK TO "BENEFITS" is "benefits" a section of the final website? If so, this is a great idea!)
One of the major problems with the current application of Marine Reserves is scale. As it stands today, roughly 0.7% of the world ocean is protected in some way, and far less is covered by strict No-Take regulations (Pauly 2007) (for comparison, consider that 11.5% of global land area is protected in some way (UNEP 2007)). Furthermore, the rate at which we are exploiting the oceans is growing and far outstrips the overall growth rate of MPAs (Pauly 2007). It should be emphasized that established protected areas and areas of regulation are a reasonable beginning; indeed, existing schemes such as effort and technological restrictions are critical to maximizing the effectiveness of Marine Reserves this should be cited, even if it's just a citation to a paper that shows how technological restrictions can maximize the effectiveness of MPAs (the key word here is "critical"---where if you proof that other means are critical to the success of Marine Reserves?). But it is most critical to note that what we have today is simply not enough to make a globally significant difference.Expansion and continued development is an absolute necessity. (don't use ... in the final website. It can look unprofessional)
Of course, proper policy is about more than just science; there is a significant and often all-important social component to consider as well. It is precisely the stricter restrictions associated with Marine Reserves that have made their establishment so controversial. the mere discussion of closing off areas of the ocean is often enough to put fishermen and other interested parties up in arms (Agardy, et. al. 2003). For any policy to succeed, it must be able to gain a certain measure of public support; in other words, it must be demonstrated that the benefits outweigh the costs on all relevant timescales. At the same time, any plan must consider the very real problems of establishment, maintenance, and enforcement.
Hence, the challenge before us is two-fold. The first goal is to, as quickly as possible, expand existing MPAs into a broad, enforceable network of Marine Reserves that cover a significant proportion of the world's oceans. But equally important is that any proposal must makean attempt to maximize its public acceptability. "The rest of this document will show: or "Click on the link below" (word it like this to make it more professional-sounding).
(Hyperlink to ACTUAL PROPOSAL)
Comments on "Background:" well'cited. A good background. I would change some of the text to make it easier to read. Try to make some of your sentences shorter. You can also ease back on some of the formal language---you can be professional without sounding stiff But generally, it's good. Keep it up!
3.
We propose that covering 10% of the world oceans with no-take reserves is a reasonable middle ground between social and scientific concerns. Specifically, we note that this is the most conservative coverage amount that has been shown to result in a considerable ecological benefit. citations? Where has this been successful? How have your cited sources come to this conclusion? How did they go about testing their hypotheses/what did they define as "ecological benefit? We contend that providing a clear and explicit goal is important in several respects: Firstly, it provides a concrete target around which a reasonable and expedient timeline can be structured (Ballatine 1991). Secondly, a well-defined goal provides reassurance that the goal is notto eventually close off the entire ocean (Ibid). In other words, this proposal is a commitment to an "upper bound" unless clear evidence indicates 10% is not enough what do you mean by this? . In this way, we seek to minimize the impacts of the proposal on human culture and economics, while strongly emphasizing that non-trivial investment today is needed for the sake of the future.
In addition, we acknowledge that such a proposal for Marine Reserves must be part of a broader, global effort for improved sustainability in fisheries and in general. It is essential that Marine Reserves be used in conjunction with more traditional management methods, such as gear restrictions, quotas, etc. (Hyperlink to EXTERNAL SOLUTION PAGES, i.e TECHNOLOGY). Such a system would zone a much larger proportion of the oceans as MPAs, with varying degrees of protection, with the No-Take Reserves acting as the core of the system. Modeling by Guenétte, et. al (2000) has provided strong evidence that substantial benefits can be derived from relatively small closed areas (between 10-20% of the study area), but only as long as they are strategically located and augmented by other management methods. Real-world experience with existing marine reserves has confirmed that the most convincing evidence of large-scale ecological benefit begins to appear when at least 10% of a given ocean area is protected (Gell & Roberts 2003) how did they come up with this conclusion? You'll need to know this info to answer panelists' questions.
As for acceptability, consider that around 11.5% of global surface area currently falls under some type of state-designated protection (UNEP 2006). These data imply that a comparable level of coverage for the oceans is not an unrealistic target. Even considering that the coverage by each country is uneven, there is clear global precedent for conservation, with diverse regions such as Central America, East Asia, Southern Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America all exceeding the global average (UNEP 2006). Given the proper motivation through education, social development programs, and the like, it is very conceivable that this 10% proposal could become broadly acceptable (Ballantine 1991).
Comments: in general, instead of lookng for evidence to support the 10% figure, you should look for how scientists approach how to figure out how much of the ocean to set aside. Find the approach that makes the most sense, explain it, then say the concluded percentage of the ocean that should be set aside.
5.
Given the conservative coverage area targets, clear thought must be given to maximizing the impact of each unit of ocean area protected. We emphasize that it is not the size of individual sanctuaries that is the most important matter, but rather the global scale of coverage (Guenétte, et. al. 2003) good. There are several general principles that should be followed when selecting locations for marine reserves. To properly function as a buffer against external exploitation, the 10% of ocean area must include a representative sample of habitats and ecosystems should be protected (Ballantine 1991). You need EXAMPLES of types of ecosystems (ie coral reefs) and examples of specific regions around the world where MPAs would be. ie, a region off the coast of China etc. Even better is to include a map of your proposed area. You can rely on existing marine protected areas...how will you alter them? Where will you propose new ones? How? You don't have to know where ALL of your proposed MPAs will be---just give a few examples. Particular emphasis should be placed on protecting especially fragile, unique, or threatened ecosystems. Furthermore, multiple examples of each habitat type should be protected to insure against localized disturbances. good Finally, individual Marine Reserves should be set up in mutually reinforcing networks to maximize there their influence. Such systems rely on knowledge of the physical processes in a given area, especially the activity of advective and convective current systems (Johnson, Funicelli, & Bohnsack 1999 and Ballantine 1991).
Although the No-Take Zones in this proposal are intended to primarily target entire ecosystems, we acknowledge that there are biological or economic situations in which a certain organism is of particular importance. In such cases, an understanding of the relevant biology and ecology is critically important. For example, key life stages or migration routes of the target species can be protected by careful placement of reserves (Robichaud & Rose 2004). Examples (using fish, not birds )? A land-based analogy is the protection of bird nesting sites and reserves for migratory birds, respectively. When setting up marine reserves, it is also important to consider potential ecological barriers that will prevent the occurrence of spillover, and therefore reduce the ability of the protected area to enhance adjacent fisheries. For instance, one study in the Turks and Caicos Islands found that numerous shallow sand habitats enclosed a population of conch, reducing its spillover into nearby areas (A. Tewfik and C. Bene, 2003). cool...
Of course, there are also the practical matters of cost and enforceability that must be factored into any setup of marine protected areas. Creating a layout for Marine reserves that optimizes these numerous biological, physical, and social factors is a complex issue. Fortunately, there exist several environmental modeling packages such as Marxan (Possingham, Ball, & Andleman 2000), ResNet, and C-Plan that use stochastic statistical methods to optimize these parameters. Naturally, these types of algorithms are effective only given proper data, so continued emphasis on the collection of scientific data is essential. (Hyperlink to EXTERNAL FURTHER RESEARCH PAGE).