Guidelines for applying the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories to Marine Protected Areas

(supplementary to the 2008 Guidelines)

Second Draft: June2011

Process, timeline and opportunity to comment

In 2008 a revised version of the IUCN-WCPA’s Guidelines for applying protected area management categorieswas published by IUCN (Dudley, 2008)[1]. This document is intended to be a ‘marinized’ version to assist in applying those guidelines to marine protected areas (MPAs).

The process to improve the application of the IUCN categories to MPAs was initiated by WCPA Marine in 2010. As a first step all members of WCPA Marine were asked to undertake an online survey to highlight issues where more guidance was needed on understanding and implementing the guidelines in the marine realm.

A small team led by Marc Hockings of the WCPA Science and Management theme and Nigel Dudley of the WCPA Capacity Building theme, working with Dan Laffoley (Marine Vice-Chair) and WCPA members, developed an outline draft (October 2010 Draft) and a process for developing the ‘marinized’ version of the guidelines to be commented on by WCPA Marine and the WCPA Steering Committee.

These guidelines will now be 'field-tested' by a variety of MPAs around the world; based on the experience with the implementation of these guidelines, they may be refined before they are finally published.

Acknowledgments

Key contributors:

Jon Day,

Nigel Dudley, Equilibrium Research

Marc Hockings, University of Queensland

Glen Holmes,

Dan Laffoley , WCPA Thematic Vice-Chair for the Marine Biome

Sue Stolton, Equilibrium Research

Researchers and reviewers:

  • Jen Ashworth, Principal Specialist Marine & Coastal Evidence, Natural England
  • Brad Barr, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Director NOAA/Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
  • Juan E. Bezaury Creel, Representante en México y Director Asociado de Política Ambiental – Latinoamérica, The Nature Conservancy
  • Charlton Clark, Temperate Marine Conservation, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
  • Colleen Corrigan , Senior Programme Officer, Protected Areas, United Nations Environment Programme- World Conservation Monitoring Centre
  • Roger Crofts, WCPA
  • Alistair Gammell, UK
  • Susan Gubbay
  • Ricardo Haroun, Center of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  • Kohei Hibino, Japan Wildlife Research Center
  • Stacy Jupiter, Fiji Country Program Director, Wildlife Conservation Society
  • Graeme Kelleher, Australia
  • Richard Kenchington, Australia
  • Aya Mizumura, University of Queensland
  • Jay Nelson, Pew Environment Group
  • Gisela Paredes Leguizamón, Programa de Áreas Protegidas, UICN SUR
  • Allen Putney, WCPA Thematic Vice Chair for World Heritage,
  • Richard Rees, Managing Director, Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme
  • Isabelle Turcotte, Habitat Conservation Analyst, Landscapes and Protected Areas Policy and Planning Section, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada
  • Trevor Ward, Marine and Fisheries Ecologist
  • Sue Wells, Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology
  • Louisa Wood, Head of Marine Programme, United Nations Environment Programme- World Conservation Monitoring Centre
  • Kim Wright, Manager, Marine Planning & Protected Areas Campaign, Living Oceans Society, Vancouver
  • Imogen Zethoven, Director, Coral Sea Campaign, Global Ocean Legacy, Pew Environment Group, Australia
  • Rob Vanderkam, Geospatial Information Manager, Habitat Conservation Section, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada
  • Mark D Spalding, Senior Marine Scientist, Global Marine Team, TNC and Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge

These guidelines should be cited as:

WCPA (forthcoming). Guidelines for applying the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories to Marine Protected Areas(supplementary to the 2008 Guidelines), IUCN, Gland.

At a glance

In 2008 a revised version of the IUCN-WCPA’s Guidelines for applying protected area management categories (referred to as the 2008 Guidelines throughout the remainder of this document) was published by IUCN (Dudley, 2008).The primary purpose of these supplementary guidelines is to increase the accuracy and consistency of assignment and reporting of the IUCN categories when applied to marine and coastal protected areas.

To qualify forone or more of the IUCN categories, a site must meet the IUCN definition of a protected area:

“A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”

The appropriate IUCNcategory is assigned based on the primary management objective of the MPA or a zone within an MPA. The primary objectives of each IUCN category is listed below. A more detailed explanation is presented in section 5 and in the 2008 Guidelines.

Definition and Primary Objectives of IUCN Protected Area Categories

IUCN Category / Definition / Primary Objective
Ia / Category Ia are strictly protected areas set aside to protect to protect biodiversity and also possibly geological/ geomorphological features, where human visitation, use and impacts are strictly controlled and limited to ensure protection of the conservation values. Such protected areas can serve as indispensable reference areas for scientific research and monitoring. / To conserve regionally, nationally or globally outstanding ecosystems, species (occurrences or aggregations) and/ or geodiversity features: these attributes will have been formed mostly or entirely by non-human forces and will be degraded or destroyed when subjected to all but very light human impact.
Ib / Category Ib protected areas are usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human habitation, which are protected and managed so as to preserve their natural condition / To protect the long-term ecological integrity of natural areas that are undisturbed by significant human activity, free of modern infrastructure and where natural forces and processes predominate, so that current and future generations have the opportunity to experience such areas.
II / Category II protected areas are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities . / To protect natural biodiversity along with its underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation.
III / Category III protected areas are set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine caverns, geological feature such as a caves or even a living feature such as an ancient grove. They are generally quite small protected areas and often have high visitor value. / To protect specific outstanding natural features and their associated biodiversity and habitats.
IV / Category IV protected areas aim to protect particular species or habitats and management reflects this priority. Many category IV protected areas will need regular, active interventions to address the requirements of particular species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category. / To maintain, conserve and restore species and habitats.
V / A protected area where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values. / To protect and sustain important landscapes/seascapes and the associated nature conservation and other values created by interactions with humans through traditional management practices.
VI / Category VI protected areas conserve ecosystems and habitats together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. They are generally large, with most of the area in natural condition, where a proportion is under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non industrial use of natural resources compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims of the area. / To protect natural ecosystems and use natural resources sustainably, when conservation and sustainable use can be mutually beneficial.

Areas which may incidentally meet a conservation objectivebut DO NOT have stated conservation objectives should NOT automatically be classified as MPAs and include:

  • Temporary or permanent fishing closures that are established primarily to help build up stocks for fishing in the future and as a reserve of fished stocks, and have no wider stated conservation aimsor achievements
  • Community areas managed primarily for sustainable extraction of marine products (e.g. coral, fish, shells, etc)
  • Marine and coastal management systems managed primarily for tourism, which also include areas of conservation interest
  • Wind farms and oil platforms that incidentally help to build up biodiversity around underwater structures and by excluding fishing and other vessels
  • Marine and coastal areas set aside for other purposes but which also have conservation benefit: military training areas or their buffer areas (e.g. exclusion zones); disaster mitigation (e.g. coastal defences that also harbour significant biodiversity); communications cable or pipeline protection areas; shipping lanes etc

Activities compatible with the various IUCN categories of MPA are summarised below (further details in Section 6):

Matrix of IUCN categories and activities that may be permitted in an MPA

Activities that may be permitted in an MPA / Ia / Ib / II / III / IV / V / VI
Habitation / N / N* / N* / N* / N* / Y / N*
Untreated waste discharge / N / N / N / N / N / Y / Y
Mining (seafloor as well as sub-seafloor) / N / N / N / N / N / Y* / Y*
Commercial fishing/collection / N / N / N / N / * / Y / Y
Recreational fishing/collection / N / N / N / N / * / Y / Y
Aquaculture / N / N / N / N / * / Y / Y
Works (e.g. harbours, ports, dredging) / N / N / N / N / * / Y / Y
Research: extractive / N* / N* / N* / N* / Y / Y / Y
Renewable energy generation / N / N / N / N / Y / Y / Y
Restoration/enhancement for other reasons (e.g. beach replenishment, fish aggregation, artificial reefs) / N / N / N* / N* / Y / Y / Y
Problem wildlife management (e.g. shark control programmes) / N / N / Y* / Y* / Y* / Y / Y
Shipping (except as may be unavoidable under international maritime law) / N / N / Y* / Y* / Y / Y / Y
Commercial tourism / N / N / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Non-extractive recreation (e.g. diving) / N / * / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Traditional fishing/collection in accordance with cultural tradition and use / N / Y* / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Non-extractive traditional use / Y* / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Research: non-extractive / Y* / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Restoration/enhancement for conservation (e.g. invasive species control, coral reintroduction) / Y* / * / Y / Y / Y / Y / Y

Note: All permissible activities within MPAs must be compatible with the conservation management objectives of the MPA regardless of the IUCN category.

Key: N = No

Y = Yes

* = Variable; depending on the management plan for the MPA demonstrating their compatibility with the MPA’s objectives

N* = Generally no, unless special circumstance apply

Y* = No alternative exists and therefore special approval is needed

1Preamble

In 2008 a revised version of the IUCN-WCPA’s Guidelines for applying protected area management categories (referred to as the 2008 Guidelines throughout the remainder of this document) was published by IUCN (Dudley, 2008)[2]. The revision process was exhaustive and included a major summit on the categories held in Almeria, Spain. A paper prepared for this summit by WCPA Marine identified the need “to develop a ‘marinized’ version of the guidelines” once the revised category guidelines were published.

1.1Why supplementary marine guidelines?

These supplementary marine guidelines aim primarily to ensure that IUCN categories are effectively applied in all types of marine protected areas (MPAs) as well as in any adjoining coastal protected areas provided they meet the IUCN definition of a protected area. Applying these marine guidelines should increase the accuracy and consistency of assignment and reporting of the IUCN categories; ensuring a more consistent approach will also improve the efficacy and relevance of the categories system as a global classification scheme.

This document builds on the guidance on using the protected area management categories but aims to provide specific guidance to apply these categories in all types of MPAs. The 2008 Guidelines provided considerable detail on the use and application of the categories (including for marine areas), but it was generally agreed that as more MPAs were established and management experience grew, further marine specific guidance should be developed.

It is important to note that the IUCN categories are applicable to all types of protected areas, whether terrestrial or marine. To date, however, there has been considerably more experience and guidance on implementing the categories in terrestrial protected areas due both to the lack of advice on using the categories in marine areas – and because of the smaller number of MPAs.

Today there are around 5,000 MPAs globally and many have been assigned to one or more IUCN categories. However application of the categories in the marine environment is currently often inaccurate and inconsistent. Analysis shows that of the subset of MPAs that have been classified around 50% have been wrongly allocated to management categories as allocation has often wrongly been done superficially by using names rather than the management objective that the area has been established to achieve. In addition, in situations where protected areas cover both land and sea, marine objectives are often not considered when assigning the site’s category. Such inconsistencies between similar MPA types reduce the efficacy and relevance of the system as a global classification scheme. The primary purpose of these guidelines therefore is to increase the accuracy and consistency of assignment and reporting of the IUCN categories when applied to marine and coastal areas.

1.2Link to the main guidelines

This document is supplementary and should be used in conjunction with the 2008 Guidelinesfor Applying Protected Area Management Categories. It aims to provide more detailed guidance for categorising MPAs in coastal and marine realms and in no way supersedes the 2008 Guidelines.

2Using the document

2.1Who are these guidelines aimed at?

These supplementary guidelines are intended primarily for policy makers, decision makers, senior managers,agencies and other institutions involved in the establishment and management of MPAs. They may be of interest to MPA site managers but the guidelines are not likely to be of direct relevance to their day-to-day management processes;however the categories may provide useful overall guidance when developing management objectives and management planning. They will be of particular interest to people who are involved in collecting, analysing and reporting data on MPAs.

In some jurisdictions, MPAs are administered by fisheries agencies, and these departments may or may not have a good knowledge of the IUCN categories system or a close relationship with the main national agency responsible for terrestrial protected areas; these in turn usuallyhave the prime responsibility for national reporting. It will be particularly important in these cases for fishery agency officials,policy makers, agencies and institutions involved in management of MPAsto review the 2008 Guidelines before using these supplementary guidelines.

2.2How to use these guidelines

These supplementary guidelines should be used in conjunction with the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, which address both terrestrial and marine areas. The full 2008 Guidelines provide far more detail and should be the main reference: these supplementary guidelines give extra information and provide more case studies on their use in MPAs. They are fully consistent with the 2008 Guidelines.

The 2008 Guidelines and these supplementary guidelinesare technical advice from IUCN rather than a rigid set of rules. Decisions about what is or is not a protected area are ultimately the responsibility of national governments, regional agreements or, in the case of international designations such as World Heritage, committees made up of more than one government.These bodies also decide what activities are acceptable in protected areas and are responsible for accurately selecting the appropriate protected area management categories. IUCN is the main source of advice on these matters but is not usually the final decision-making body. We recognise that every situation is different and that a certain amount of flexibility in interpretation is sometimes required.

[The HTML version of these supplementary guidelines for MPAs provides URLs/weblinks to the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories and other relevant documents. Thesesupplementary guidelines for MPAs are also available in a printed/PDF version, and because of this,these guidelines include:

  • a summary of the main elements of the full 2008 Guidelines, such as the primary objectives of each category; and
  • reference to particular page numbers in the printed/PDF version of the 2008 Guidelines.]

2.3How to maintain currency

As mentioned in the preface, one of the main reasons for developing supplementary guidelines for MPAs is the relatively small number of MPAs in existence.Subsequently, the experiences in applying the IUCN categories in marine and coastal areas compared to other biomes is more limited. As the numbers and area of MPAs grow, so will our understanding of a whole range of management issues. It is therefore hoped that these supplementary guidelines for MPAs will be reviewed in the light of our increased understanding of marine conservation and management in coming years.

3Key marine issues

3.1Issues of special emphasis in marine environments

MPAs by their nature present a particular suite of management challenges that may need different approaches to protected areas in terrestrial environments. Some of the particular characteristics of protected areas in the marine realm, which are often absent or relatively uncommon on land, are outlined below. Note that some of them can be used to inform issues currently arising on terrestrial protected areas, such as heightened ecological linkages due to climate change.

Table 1: MPA characteristics

Issues of particular relevance in marine environments / How does this issue affect MPAs?
Multi-dimensional environment / MPAs are designated in a fluid three-dimensional environment.Different management approaches may be considered at different depths.Managing the water column differently from the seabed is an important issue for many MPAs; in some cases this vertical zoning has been applied whereas in other areas, a single zone may be applied with clear guidance indicating what management or use is appropriate and where. However, the existence of vertical zoningneeds to be handled withcaution, given the increasing evidence of strong ecological bentho-pelagic coupling.
MPAs are also subject to development pressures on their seafloor and sub-seafloor, a vertical aspect analogous to the sub-surface component of terrestrial protected areas. This important area should not be ignored or forgotten.
Direction of flows/impacts / MPAs are very dependent on, and particularly subject to, surrounding and ‘up-current’ influences, which often occur outside the area of management control.Restrictions over such external influences can rarely be applied.MPAs are also subject to multidirectional flows (e.g., tides, currents).
Tenure or ownership / Tenure or ownership is rarely applicable in the marine environment in the same way as it is applied on land. In Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), the rights of use are legally defined by the nation from the border of which the EEZ extends. MPAs can be an effective way of controlling both access and use.
In the High Seas (i.e. outside EEZs), more often than not, marine areas are considered to be ‘the commons’ to which all and many users have a certain rights to both use and access the area. MPAs can represent a legitimate restriction on such rights under the UNCLOS or Regional Sea Agreements derived either from provisions of the CBD or Regional Fisheries Agencies.
Jurisdiction / Often the water column, seabed, sea life and foreshore are managed by different jurisdictional or government agencies, which may create difficulties for designation and management.
Controls on access / Controlling entry to, and activities in, MPAs is particularly difficult (and often impossible) to regulate or enforce given such issues as multiple access points and remoteness from patrols, and the rights of ‘innocent passage’ afforded to all vessels under international law.
While controlling activities is more difficult than on land, modern satellite technology is improving this capability.
Surveillance and monitoring / Being unable to easily see sub-tidal features poses particular problems in terms of management and enforcement. Illegal or unregulated activities may damage a MPA without anyone knowing unless a monitoring or surveillance program specifically visits that site.
Identifying boundaries / Boundaries of many MPAs (especially those off-shore) are usually difficult to locate without electronic charts, a Global Positioning System(GPS) or similar technology; even inshoreboundaries like the ‘low water mark’ may be difficult to actually locate in the field or may be only loosely defined in the establishment of the MPA. Vertical boundaries which are necessary in MPAs that do not extend to either the sea surface (such as some seamounts) or to the seabedare also difficult to locate.
This may make compliance and enforcement difficult and lead to significant flexibility in application of the zoning or use restrictions in highly protected MPAs.
Extent and/or level of protection / Some management actions within an MPA may only be necessary at certain times of the year, for example to protect breeding or aggregation sites for fish or marine mammals, depending on the specific conservation objectives set for that area of the MPA.
Scale / The scales over which marine connectivity occurs can be very large, and yet such influences may be the major drivers for the health of an MPA. Management of MPAs should therefore be targeted across multiple scales and it is recommended that sufficiently large areas be considered to ensure adequate protection of ecosystem values.

4What is a Marine Protected Area?

4.1The Definition of a Marine Protected Area

In applying the categories system, the first step is to determine whether or not the site meets IUCN’s definition of a protected area. This definition was refined in the 2008 Guidelines to now state: