Foreword

Abstract

As managers of marine protected area (MPA) programmes for many years, we are especially pleased to co-sponsor this special issue of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, focused on lessons about MPA management from the World Conservation Congress held in September 2016 in Honolulu, Hawai'i. These lessons could not be more timely since the threats to the ocean's ability to sustain us – such as overfishing, habitat loss and pollution – are being compounded by larger scale global impacts, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise. But, as we learned in Hawai'i, MPAs offer cause for hope, even celebration, as we work together to protect and restore the most important places in our oceans. MPAs and MPA networks are helping to protect pristine areas, build resilience, and restore fisheries and other marine resources that sustain lives and livelihoods. One lesson we've learned over the years that was highlighted at the World Conservation Congress was the power of collaboration – with the public, industry, NGOs, and across international borders. Through such partnerships, we can greatly amplify our conservation impacts. For example, France and the United States have been working for several years with other countries in the Caribbean to protect a shared population of humpback whales that migrate from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off Cape Cod, Massachussets, to Agoa Marine Mammal Sanctuary in Dominique and other Caribbean MPAs. With the two largest EEZs in the world, the USA and France are now exploring ways to expand our collaboration, using MPAs as focal points. This special issue of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems represents another facet of collaboration – that of scientists and managers working together to deliver the latest information on MPA management to MPA practitioners from around the world. It covers topics of critical importance to our collective marine conservation efforts, ranging geographically from tropical corals to the Arctic seas. Key issues addressed here include: tools for network development, such as understanding ecological connectivity, resilience and cohesion, and integrating ‘other area-based conservation measures’; synergies between MPAs and aquaculture and with blue carbon; and expanding beyond national waters to explore sustainable financing and World Heritage designations for the high seas. It is fitting that we publish this special issue at another key milestone of the MPA community – the 4th International MPA Congress in Chile, 4–8 September 2017. We hope this journal will help broaden our knowledge and partnerships as we step up to the ongoing, but critical challenge of protecting our ocean treasures.