Mosaic with fishes and spiny
lobster; likely origin_Pompei, Italy (The British
Museum, London). |
The Commission considers conserving biodiversity, in particular
aquatic biodiversity, as a cornerstone of the environment,
one of the three points of the 'sustainability triangle'.
Biodiversity and its wise use are major themes in its marine
and freshw ater international cooperative activities. It
is simple to define but has many dimensions and matters
both globally and locally. The Convention on Biological
Diversity regards it as the variability among living organisms
from different ecosystems and the ecological complexes of
which they are part; this includes diversity within species,
between species and of ecosystems.
Ten marine biodiversity centres are currently defined.
Most occur in the Indo-Pacific - including the Red Sea -
but the Atlantic is also represented (e.g. Western Caribbean).
These centres cover just 16% of the world's reefs and 0.012%
of the oceans. Peak biodiversity occurs in SE Asia's 'coral
triangle'.
How society benefits from
aquatic biodiversity
Biodiversity provides 'raw materials' for seafood production.
Fish dominate global marine catches, of which only 40 species
and species groups are taken in great abundance. However,
some 7 000 species of more than 26 000 species of fish registered
in FishBase, the information system on all fish (http://www.fishbase.org/),
are in need of some management as they are being used by
humankind. Freshwater, and even marine species face much
greater risk of extinction than is commonly supposed. However,
43.5% of groupers - a group of commercially important marine
fish - are also in the so- called IUCN (21)
'Red Lists of Threatened Species'. The EC sponsored the
first ten years of development of the FishBase scientific
information system at the International Centre for Living
Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM)(22).
This source of global public knowledge is now supported
by almost 800 individual and institutional knowledge providers
managed by an international consortium led by European museums(23)
and research institutes and including the UN's Food and
Agriculture
Organization(24). The FishBase website
currently attracts more than 3 million hits per month from
users world?wide ranging from fisheries and biodiversity
specialists to school children. Besides providing basic
scientifically validated information and identification
of all fish, step?by?step analyses make specialist knowledge
accessible to ordinary citizens.
According to FAO data(25), some invertebrates,
such as shrimps and cephalopods, are among the most valuable
marine food commodities. Coastal plants with medicinal value
are among species that sustain society more indirectly.
Species of conservation value include many animals now under
threat, particularly from human activities. An ongoing international
research collaboration documenting all seaweeds around Africa
(http://www.seaweed.ie/)
and enhancing the information system with useful data on
culturing techniques, legal and regulatory frameworks for
marketing and use, images, etc., is one of several efforts
to make key basic knowledge on conservation and sustainable
economic use widely available and to promote techniques
such as Fishbase.
As well as individual species and groups, the combination
of species has an important indirect impact by influencing
ecosystem health and resilience. However, the degree to
which loss of species combinations affects ecosystem stability,
health and performance, including seafood/fishery production,
is still poorly understood, although the emerging analytical
framework of 'scale-less networks' explains how the loss
of particular 'keystone' species disrupts ecosystem functioning.
This framework allows for the formulation of hypotheses
of direct relevance for sustainable management and investment
strategies.
Sustainable ecotourism often relies on maintaining the
spectacular range of species present in marine and other
natural ecosystems. The EC supports the view that biodiversity
is important for both aesthetic and ethical reasons, that
it should remain an integral part of natural heritage, and
that it is an important hedge for uncertainty in the face
of change. Among many other activities, conferences in Lisbon
(during EXPO 98) and in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2000, addressed
the sustainable use of aquatic biodiversity for various
purposes, including sustainable ecotourism based on nature
observation. Good practice examples and policy implications
are documented in proceedings available on paper(26)
and at: (http://cordis.europa.eu/inco2/src/
docs_pub.htm)
Losing out on interest from
nature's capital
International cooperation by the Commission includes activities
to minimise loss of structural biodiversity (e.g. aquatic
resources), resulting from poorly planned development, pollution
and habitat degradation as well as global change. However,
fisheries production has been shown to be stagnating, if
not in decline for at least a decade, resulting in a global
crisis affecting biodiversity and the integrity of entire
ecosystems. This, together with some unsustainable practices
in aquaculture, such as the excessive capture of juveniles
in the wild for stocking, can easily dislodge the very cornerstones
of fisheries. Many uncertainties remain concerning functional
aspects of aquatic biodiversity, so the EC supports interdisciplinary
research to improve understanding, as well as a precautionary
approach, in international cooperative activities.
Safeguarding biodiversity
through protected areas
Protected areas have two main roles: to sample or represent
biodiversity - or other key values, and to restore biodiversity
suffering at the hands of humans.
In recent years there has been a move towards multiple-use
protected areas, where damaging human uses (e.g. mining)
are prohibited. But there is a growing realisation that
fully protected marine reserves are needed too, not only
to conserve ecosystems and species, but also to optimise/restore
aquatic harvests, improve fishery management and enhance
natural sea defence. This is particularly important for
low-lying atoll nations of the Pacific and Indian Ocean
vulnerable to flooding by sea level rise (e.g. Tuvalu).
It is critical that healthy/protected reefs have greater
capacity for upward growth than heavily degraded reefs:
the premium for this is the cost of establishing protected
areas, while the rewards are improved physical and social
security, as well as better fish harvests and economic development.
The EC's international scientific cooperation supports
the establishment and strengthening of marine protected
areas as they can provide tangible social, economic and
environmental benefits. This is particularly important given
the current poor coverage, inadequate representation of
marine ecosystems and implementation problems. Scientific
cooperation between European research teams and their partners
in North West Africa has begun recently with the specific
objective of analysing public policy in relation to marine
protected areas, e.g. the Parc National du Banc d'Arguin
(PNBA) in Mauritania, a World Heritage Site, and exploring
options for the improved balance between conservation and
economic development.
The terrestrial world has many more protected areas than
the sea. Significantly, however, 80% of marine biodiversity
hot spots are adjacent to terrestrial (tropical) centres
of biodiversity. Extending terrestrial conservation efforts
to the sea could be a cost-effective strategy for integrating
marine and terrestrial conservation and protecting planetary
biota. This is already the case in PNBA in Mauritania and
the terrestrial Saint Katherine Protectorate on the Sinai
and the Gulf of Aqaba (coastal) Protectorates Development
Programme which are complementary to sustaining socio-economic
benefits through nature conservation in Egypt.
Complementary approaches
The EC's international cooperation supports the fact that
protected areas are of limited value without broader (coastal
zone management) measures. For instance, it may be important
to protect coral reefs within a marine reserve by controlling
oil pollution originating outside the reserve boundaries.
Assistance has also been given on the restoration of biodiversity
and degraded aquatic environments, but well-organised self-help
and prevention should be the objective. More generally,
the Commission recognises that understanding the linkages
between sustainable use and biodiversity is critical, and
that assessment of impact of strategies, programmes, plans
and projects on biodiversity is key to sustainability.
Good practice examples
Policy analysis of three protected areas in NW
Africa
A scientific cooperation project involving West African
and European research teams and NGOs is analysing public
policies in support of three declared marine and coastal
protected areas in Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea Bissau.
The research will explore policy options for increasing
coherence between conservation and economic development
policies, the challenge being to ensure sustainable benefits
from the marine resources and associated ecosystems, not
only from direct use such as continued fish supplies depending
partially on the nursery functions of the protected areas,
but also from their other functions. This INCO cooperation
is complementary to another research and capacity building
project emphasising the changes that have occurred in NW
African fisheries over the last 50 years (see FIAS).
Wildlife sanctuary on the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast
Following the 1991 Gulf War, the EC supported a major conservation
initiative in Dawhat ad Dafi - a large, biologically and
socio-economically important bay on the as a result of the
conflict. Through the Commission's international cooperation,
long-term monitoring of biodiversity and coastal resources
was undertaken. Studies compared the effectiveness of different
clean-up technologies, and a rehabilitation centre for oiled
birds was set up. A key outcome was the establishment of
a wildlife sanctuary - the first of its kind on the Gulf
coast of Saudi Arabia. Other benefits included capacity
building in taxonomy, ecological survey and coastal management,
as well as greater awareness of the importance and vulnerability
of the Gulf's renewable resources.
Gulf of Aqaba Protectorates Development Programme
Established in 1983, Ras Mohammed is Egypt's first and only
'national park'. There are extensive raised fossil reefs
in the near-shore areas, as well as vast areas of living
coral reefs with a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Terrestrial
wildlife is also important.The Sinai coast has undergone
enormous tourism growth, which can inflict considerable
damage on fragile arid and reef ecosystems. Since 1988,
the EU has assisted with the establishment of four nature
reserves, by providing management guidance, solid institutional
foundations, capacity building for rangers and others, infrastructure
to help make this fully operational. In this collaboration
with the Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency (EEAA) a balance
is being sought between respecting traditional lifestyles
of the bedouin population while creating room for economic
activities centred on tourism and keeping nature intact,
both on land and at sea, to secure the sustainability of
socioeconomic choices of different groups.
Aerial view of Parc National
de Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania. |
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