Plans announced today (14th December 2012) for 33 nature conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been welcomed by a coalition of Scotland’s environmental groups as an important step towards the much-needed recovery of Scotland’s seas.
Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce contends that a network of Marine Protected Areas cannot afford to simply protect what’s left in Scotland’s seas, otherwise the marine environment will continue to decline. The eight organisations who collectively represent 460,000 memberships, believe that a network of MPAs must actively help recover the seabed and the marine life it supports, implementing the ambition of national legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament over two years ago. (more…)
Picking up on recent research that looks at the economics of setting up a network of Scottish MPAs, Chris Williams of new economic foundation (nef) explains why the valuation of ‘ecosystems services’ are rising up everyone’s agenda.
One must acknowledge the intrinsic value of nature. It is essential. It is priceless. However, in order to inform policy decisions it is useful to understand how we benefit from nature (i.e. the services they provide) and what the cost for protecting it is, we need to have an approach that can value the environment in a way that reflects this immense and in many senses unquantifiable value.
Measuring those benefits, in order to make the case for conserving those areas which provide the highest benefits to human populations, or those which are of most importance in terms of biodiversity or most under threat, is a key step in making the case for their protection.
Looking at valuing the marine environment is an important aspect of work that NGOs working in the world of marine conservation and fisheries are concerned with. Although it is completely clear that ‘pricing the priceless’ is impossible and whatever values are calculated will inevitably be an underestimation of the true value of nature, within the confines of our current system, it is part of the necessary toolkit to inform decisions. For example, in Scotland a study has just been released, which shows that the benefits of a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland range from £6.3 – £10 Billion over the next 20 years.
The estimated benefits include those that we benefit from directly by exploiting the environment (either consumptive goods e.g. fisheries, or non-consumptive ones e.g. wildlife viewing) and indirect benefits that are derived from ecosystem functions that give rise to a ‘socially relevant endpoint’ (e.g. climate regulation from carbon sequestration in plants). Economists also like to talk about the ‘option’ value associated with an individual’s willingness to pay to protect the possibility of using a natural resource in the future. Then there are the non-use values such as the value an individual places on ensuring the availability of a natural resource to future generations, or the value placed on simply knowing that a natural resource is there.
The sea is a provider of food and materials for building (aggregates); it regulates our climate and produces oxygen and acts as a sink for carbon dioxide; and also provides other cultural benefits such as tourism and recreation. Some of these have clear market prices, some do not.
‘Rising on the agenda’ All of these benefits have been quantified (where possible) in the study and these considerations and approaches are now rising on the agenda when it comes to the marine environment.
With so much to be gained from conserving the marine environment and ensuring its use is sustainable, can we really afford not to? This brings us to why long-term thinking is problematic under the current paradigm and favours short-termism (myopia) over true sustainability:
Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is currently the main framework used to evaluate public spending decisions, mainly in the form of Impact Assessments . The importance of CBA in evaluating all costs and benefits throughout society is central to decision making in the UK . The central importance of discounting and discount rates has been discussed many times and is a key issue which makes conservation seem like a bad investment: the benefits we derive from nature conservation often take a long period of time to materialise, especially in degraded environments. So the myopia resulting from economic decision making and ‘discounting the future’ means conservation does not look like it is worth investing in. The current discount rate we use (3.5% over 20 years ) does not reflect the reality that beyond the 20 year time horizon, the benefits may be even greater from having conservation areas within the marine environment. Is a source of protein around from our seas really going to be worth half of what it is now to people in the year 2032 (see graph below) or less than a third by 2050?
Graph 1: A discount rate of 3.5% from 2012 – 2050
The discussion about how to ‘’value nature’’ has been on-going for years. In its widest sense, the environmental, social and economic benefits of conserving natural habitats and ecosystems along with the species that inhabit them (our ‘natural capital’) are measured with regards to the services they provide to humans (‘ecosystem services’). Without this natural capital being in a functioning and healthy state, our long-term survival becomes difficult or impossible. The often-used but unhelpful utilitarian perspective (only looking at what goods and services we get out of nature) can only tell us part of the story.
So in order to specifically understand the benefits that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide we ran a workshop in September as part of the Marine Socio Economics Project , a 30 month project to strengthen the socio-economic skills and capacity of marine NGOs. The five partners (WWF, MCS, Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB) sent key staff working on MPAs to Bristol, where a two day workshop presented the way that the benefits of MPAs (which include economic, social and environmental benefits) can be demonstrated, measured and used to inform government decision-making. The main case study discussed at the workshop was the English Marine Conservation Zone project (MCZ – a type of MPA), but work of this nature is going on throughout Britain, Europe and Globally, as the report from Scottish Environment LINK shows.
There is an inherent difficulty in demonstrating the value of ecosystem services and benefits to humans as a result of the designation of an MPA, but there is no doubt that our current economic approach is jeopardising food security, jobs, sustainability and the long-term future for people and the sea which surrounds us.
You can share this on Facebook. www.facebook.com/SaveScottishSeas Picture by Kaleel Zibe
It’s a slightly scary image: an Arctic tern in full, squawking flight. But it’s not half as scary as the message it carries. For the past 30 years, Scottish populations of Sterna paradisaea have been in free-fall, plummeting by 72% to less than 50,000 breeding pairs.
This is not an isolated story. Other Scottish seabird populations are in an equally worrying state. This year’s count of kittiwake colonies on the Orkney mainland reveals that numbers have fallen by 82% in just 12 years to 1,965 adults.
This not just a major environmental disaster – it’s potentially a profoundly social and economic one too. Parts of Scotland are recognised as world-class sites for bird-watching and people visit in their droves to view seabirds up close in their incredible cliff-side habitats. These welcome wildlife tourists buoy up the local economies of rural villages and towns around Scotland. A recent UK study by the RSPB has explored this secondary, but important, economic value of seabirds. (Local Value of Seabirds, 2012)
Imagine the Camarague without its Greater flamingos. The Shetland Isles without its kittiwakes, Arctic terns, fulmars and Arctic skuas, does not bear thinking about. Scotland’s reputation as a country of amazing natural scenery and wildlife is at stake.
So what have Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) got to do with this? Seabirds face a range of pressures such as food shortages, and the effects of climate change. Although breeding sites of Scottish seabirds are protected in many places, the places where they feed are not given the same attention. Less food at sea, means fewer birds able to breed. It’s simple.
Nature conservation Marine Protected Areas provide the perfect tool to protect and manage these feeding ‘hotspots’ out at sea, but no Scottish seabirds, except black guillemots, are currently included in the Scottish nature conservation MPA process.
RSPB Scotland (a member of Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce that set up the Save Scottish Seas campaign) is calling out on behalf of Scottish seabirds for people to take action.
You can share this on Facebook. www.facebook.com/SaveScottishSeas
This tail belongs to a Humpback whale. Not a lot of people know it, but these majestic mammals visit Scottish waters every year, as well as over 25 other species of whale and dolphin – from minke whales to harbour porpoises.
And just as the whales and dolphins visit our seas, so do people – who visit our shores and charter boats to watch them.
This wildlife tourism generates substantial value to local economies. Dolphin watching in the Moray Firth, for example, was recently found to be worth more than £4 million each year and generating more than 200 equivalent full-time jobs.
Unfortunately, it’s not a completely pretty picture. Not only are some species of whales and dolphins still recovering from decades of international overfishing, but they continue to struggle in a pressured marine environment too. Strandings resulting from the noise pollution of seismic surveys and unintentional entanglements in fishing nets are just some of the difficulties that whale and dolphin populations face.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) represent a vital method for managing our busy seas and helping to protect our marine wildlife. For those areas that are of vital importance to whale and dolphin populations, MPAs could help to mitigate the impacts of damaging activities. (Read WDC’s ‘All about MPAs for more information). Yet current plans for MPAs by the Scottish Government have not included whales and dolphins (or cetaceans as they are known scientifically) in the MPA network – due to be consulted on in summer 2013.
Whale & Dolphin Conservation, a member of the Save Scottish Seas campaign, is ‘up in arms’ about this. Check out their video and sign the petition. (This petition has since closed: check out how many people signed it….)
Creating a network of Scottish marine protected areas (MPAs) could provide benefits to Scotland to the tune of £10billion, and potentially more, according to a report published today.
Much of Scotland’s marine environment is now recognised to be in a state of decline or concern. The report Valuing the Benefits of Designating a Scottish Network of MPAs in Territorial and Offshore Waters (2012) finds that if such a network was set up to help protect Scotland’s seas, MPAs would help safeguard a range of hidden benefits that are currently under threat. Mitigation against extreme weather impacts, boosting fisheries and securing Scotland’s tourism appeal are amongst the many economic and social values described in the report. (more…)
You’ll probably recognise this marine creature. It’s Nephrops norvegicus – known amongst many things as a Norwegian Lobster, prawn or langoustine. It lives in muddy seabeds around Scottish shores. It is also the second most commercially valuable species to the Scottish fishing fleet – in 2011 alone, landings totalled £84.3 million.
Healthy habitat is vital to this crustacean. ‘Burrowed mud’ might sound like the last place you’d expect to find an abundance of sealife, but in fact the soft sediments and muddy sands make a surprisingly important home for Scotland’s langoustines as well as a host of other creatures such as crabs, sea cucumbers and worms.
Unfortunately burrowed mud is listed internationally as a threatened or declining habitat which is why Marine Protected Areas are being proposed in Scottish waters – to protect and recover this habitat type and other important ‘priority’ habitats and species.
It is hoped that by protecting burrowed mud, the wider health of Scotland’s seas will benefit. Burrowed mud plays an incredibly important role in the whole marine ecosystem. The activities of the burrowing animals churn up the muddy seabed, allowing the exchange and cycling of oxygen, nutrients and minerals between the water and the sediment. This will benefit other marine life and the livelihoods which depend upon it. The habitat is not only home to Nephrops, it also provides rich feeding grounds for a variety of commercial fish species, including cod, haddock and whiting.
University of Glasgow researcher Charlotte Hopkins introduces a fascinating aspect of Marine Protected Areas and explores current thinking about how MPAs might mitigate the effects of climate change…
With the Scottish Marine Protected Area (MPA) Project firmly underway it will become increasingly important to understand how marine protected areas will perform in future scenarios of climate change. How will climate change affect MPAs and are we planning for it?
Impacts on the oceans from climate change, such as melting sea ice and the plight of polar bears, or rising sea temperatures and coral bleaching, are well publicised. However, climate change is also affecting the functioning of marine ecosystems in other ways; sea level rise, changes in weather patterns and changes in ocean currents are also altering ocean conditions. Species shifting their distribution in response to these changes may not be protected by traditional marine protected areas.
Although marine protected areas cannot guard against alterations in sea temperature for example, through reducing other stressors such as overfishing MPAs may mitigate the effects of climate change and are still an important long-term conservation tool.
Questions about marine protected areas and climate change are only just being addressed and current planning and management regimes may not be able to cope with the pressures of climate change. Managers will need to think strategically with carefully designed socioeconomic and conservation goals. Monitoring and adaptive management will be key facets in promoting climate change resilience and ecological integrity.
As a PhD student I will be aiming to answer some of the important management and policy questions of marine protected areas in the context of climate change. MPAs have been delivering results worldwide and using the vast experience from international examples will be key to understanding how climate change considerations can be applied to the Scottish process.
This PhD will be supported by Climate XChange (CXC) to provide timely information relating to MPAs and climate change. I am working closely with the Centre for Sustainable Coasts a joint initiative between the James Hutton Institute (JHI) and SAMS addressing marine policy in Scotland.
For updates, check out Charlotte Hopkin’s blog – Bonnie Buoyancy.
Proposals to set up five new Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Scotland’s offshore waters have been enthusiatically welcomed by members of Scottish Environment LINK’s marine taskforce (MTF).
The proposals, announced today, include the largest marine protected area of its kind in Europe (more…)
Environment groups have expressed deep concern about the sector-led planning that threatens to sideline Scotland’s marine environment and the national sustainability agenda. Members of Scottish Environment LINK argue that delays to finalising a National Marine Plan will favour short-termist, large-scale development without ensuring due consideration of wider environmental impacts and the interests of broader marine activities.
RSPB Scotland’sTessa Cole explains how a ground-breaking bird-tagging initiative has inspired an art exhibition and raises the profile of seabirds at a critical chapter in Scottish legislative history
A pioneering programme, fitting tiny sat-nav style tags to seabirds, is the inspiration behind a new exhibition opening this weekend at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.
The Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (FAME) project saw scientists, from organisations such as the RSPB, attaching small tracking devices in order to find and protect important feeding areas for seabirds.
The ground breaking data has furthered knowledge for seabird conservation and has also inspired a group of artists to stage an exhibition. ‘Sea art in a different way’ is the brainchild of wildlife artist Jane Smith and RSPB Conservation Scientist Ellie Owen, following a chance meeting on the seabird cliffs of Colonsay.
Together they explored ways of sharing the magic of a seabird colony with the wider public. “Scotland’s seabird colonies are a long way from the city centre of Glasgow, but with their bustle and energy and noise there are many similarities,” explains Jane Smith. “Personally, I take great pleasure knowing that our coastline is home to creatures other than ourselves, who are searching out different solutions to the problems of daily life that we all share.”
Ellie Owen, RSPB’s lead scientist on the FAME project, agrees: “This project has really opened our eyes to the secret world of seabirds such as kittiwake, shag, razorbill, guillemot and fulmar. These tiny trackers tell us so much, from how far the birds travel for food to how deep they dive. This in turn is helping inform discussions on management of marine areas so that the needs of seabirds can be met.”
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are vital to manage our precious marine resource and protect the biodiversity of our seas. In spring 2013 the Scottish Government will be consulting on proposals for a MPA network, but unfortunately proposals for the network do not include specific protection for feeding areas for birds at sea. RSPB Scotland is deeply concerned by this gap as many of Scotland’s seabird populations are in decline and has launched a petition for the inclusion of seabird protection in the MPA network.
Come along to the FAME exhibition and be inspired to support protection for seabirds at sea.
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Plans announced today (14th December 2012) for 33 nature conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been welcomed by a coalition of Scotland’s environmental groups as an important step towards the much-needed recovery of Scotland’s seas.
