Preprint volume - SIBM

Pre-print Volume – Invited presentation
Topic 1: BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION SCIENCE: CONTRIBUTING TO MANAGEMENT
K. HISCOCK
Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Plymouth PL1 2PB, U.K.
khis@mba.ac.uk
‘MIND THE GAP’ – SCIENCE THAT INFORMS IMPLEMENTATION
OF POLICY ON MARINE PROTECTED AREAS
'ATTENZIONE AL 'GAP': LA SCIENZA INTERVIENE NELL'ATTUAZIONE
DELLA POLITICA DELLE AREE MARINE PROTETTE
Abstract - There is no shortage of policy statements that indicate the need for marine protected areas
(MPAs), how they will be identified and by when. However, scientists are often unable to provide the
evidence to implement policy statements – there is a gap between the information that policy advisors
assume scientists will have and what scientists are actually able to deliver. Those information gaps do
not prevent the establishment of MPAs but they do make the process difficult and, in the case of
establishing a representative site series, incomplete. The key gaps in Britain at least, are in survey
data describing what habitats (as biotopes) and species occur where, in identifying fully which are
the rare, scarce and threatened habitats and species, in designing the site series including
establishing whether separate MPAs benefit each other, and in interpreting change that occurs when
MPAs are established.
Key-words: marine protected areas, biodiversity, conservation, research.
Introduction - At the 2008 annual SIBM meeting, I outlined the role of marine
protected areas for biodiversity conservation and for science using examples from
Britain (Hiscock, 2008). This paper draws attention to some of the gaps between what
policy-makers might expect scientists to know and what we do not know, and a view
on what we need to do to fill the gaps in what we know.
‘The science of marine reserves’ (PISCO, 2007) is a touchstone for advocates of
biodiversity conservation and fisheries enhancement, although almost all of the
examples come from areas outside of Europe and the majority of success stories are for
fish. We need to generate a NE Atlantic and Mediterranean perspective to collecting
evidence for the effectiveness of marine reserves for biodiversity conservation and that
means new work.
What to protect
Habitats. Countries that are members of the European Union are required to
implement the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on
the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora). That Directive aims to
contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by requiring Member States to take
measures designed to maintain or restore certain natural habitats and wild species at a
favourable conservation status. At the time the Habitats Directive was being drafted,
the classification that provided a ‘catalogue’ of habitats to select from was the
CORINE classification (CORINE biotopes – Technical Handbook, volume 1, p. 73-
109, 19 May 1988, partially updated February 1989) – which was incompletely
developed for marine habitats. The ‘certain natural habitats’ for the marine
environment are very broad types. Although ‘a blunt instrument’, the Habitats
Directive has resulted in the establishment of a large number of MPAs in Europe.
We now have a much better developed and precise tool to catalogue habitats (as
biotopes) and to use as a starting point to identify habitats that are rare, in decline or
41 st S.I.B.M. CONGRESS Rapallo (GE), 7-11 June 2010
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