Have you been watching the new Ken Burns PBS series on the US National Park system? I'm not the weepy and emotional type, but I have to say that the combination of archival images, dramatic reading of letters, and plain old American pride for people with the vision to set aside natural areas had me all teary-eyed at times. Having spent a good portion of my adult life visiting and working in national parks, I guess I never needed much convincing in the value of natural areas areas being set aside and managed in perpetuity.I get the same sense with all the recent hubbub surrounding the efforts to establish a network of protected areas--MARINE protected areas--along the California coast. Granted, I'm a bit biased when it comes to marine protected areas (MPAs) since my day job is helping coral reef MPAs reach their conservation and management objectives. But we are essentially talking about a national park, albeit submerged.
And like a national park that you or I can visit on land (Acadia, Yosemite, Zion, Great Smoky Mountains, whatever), MPAs need relatively similar care and feeding as terrestrial protected areas in order to be effective and meet the objectives behind their protection in the first place. They need enforcement to ensure that protection is actually happening. Since tourists are likely to visit, they need some form of visitor management and education so the public can understand the history and needs of the protected area. Local communities that live adjacent to (or within) protected area boundaries cannot feel disenfranchised from protection, so some form of benefit sharing or zoning for multiple use will need to be established. And of course, there need to be reliable, sustainable funds to keep all of these activities functioning.
Whether we are talking about Yellowstone National Park or the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, protection in perpetuity requires collaboration between diverse user groups, compromise, and active management. Certainly easier said than done.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect behind the MPA process, at least here in California, has been that our coastal waters have suffered from the tragedy of the commons. The basic premise being that relatively free access and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately dooms the resource through over-exploitation. Granted, we have had centuries of over exploitation of our common nearshore ecosystems as standard practice. Getting behaviors, minds, and hearts to change in how we view marine resources is a little like putting the genie back in the bottle.
But what is our collective alternative?
That's why I applaud and support the efforts to build an effective MPA network along the California coast. And the nearly year-long effort to to implement the landmark conservation law, the Marine Life Protection Act, is at an important step. Three groups of ocean users and enthusiasts have created the final options for Southern California's network of MPAs. The Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) will decide on the preferred map at a final October 20-22nd meeting in Long Beach.
Each of the three proposed maps differs in how much protection it provides.
Map 3 was prepared by conservation and science-oriented stakeholders and includes high quality habitats and areas of conservation priority, promising rapid and profound increases in the number and, size and diversity of ocean wildlife.
Map 2 was prepared by fishing interests, and falls short of scientific recommendations for MPA size, habitat inclusion and space between MPAs; it will not produce the benefits envisioned by the Act.
Map 1 was prepared by a cross-section of ocean users, and proposes a compromise between the two other options; it best demonstrates the balance of interests involved but is not as effective at protecting southern California’s coastal resources.
In my view, protection can't just be about compromise. At the end of the day, meaningful protection must also be the result. Otherwise, why are we bothering with protection at all? For this reason, I support Map 3.
Here are 2 important ways you can also help in the next 2 weeks:
SEND AN EMAIL: Write an email (electronic or post) for public comment to the decision makers before October 11, 2009. Crafting a personal email to this group in support of one of the maps will make a real difference. These public comments should be emailed to: mlpacomments@resources.ca.gov.
**If you do not have time to write your own email, use the MPA Works online letter form to send in a form message.**
The MLPA staff and Blue Ribbon Task Force WILL be counting the number of letters and diversity of interests they receive in support of each of the maps.
ATTEND the Big Hearing on October 21 in Long Beach: If you live in the area, tell your friends and family to attend the meeting with you at the Hilton Long Beach & Executive Meeting Center.
And who knows, perhaps in another 100 years, a new Ken Burns will document the leadership and foresight of those visionaries and local communities who recognized that protecting marine ecosystems was just as much an investment in our future as protecting mountains, canyons, rivers, and prairie.
