Foreword

Abstract

Exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources from seas and oceans has underpinned the prosperity and livelihoods of many communities and nations, in some cases for millennia. Over the last century, however, the industrialization of some of these uses has extended and escalated their impacts dramatically. The consequent collapses of a number of major fisheries and the near extinction of several species has highlighted the need for better understanding and management of the use of marine resources. The impacts of land-based activities on coastal and marine resources raise similar concerns. Growing awareness of the importance of the oceans, not only for food but also for a wide range of services delivered by healthy marine ecosystems, has resulted in a much stronger global focus on a range of ocean-related issues including the conservation of marine biodiversity. The 6th IUCN World Parks Congress held in Sydney, Australia in November 2014 marked some important shifts in awareness and thinking on the importance and benefits of protected areas for human livelihoods and health, disaster risk reduction, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. The Congress included a major focus on marine protected areas (MPAs) in this broad context of ensuring the maintenance of the vital services provided by healthy ocean ecosystems. Participants at the Congress celebrated an enormous variety of inspiring ways of addressing the challenges facing our planet through protected area approaches that respect and conserve nature while benefiting human health and prosperity. This special issue of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems contains an outstanding selection of papers from the Congress's cross-cutting theme on oceans. The Promise of Sydney – a key output from the Congress – noted that healthy oceans are critical to life on Earth and must be protected at much greater scale. This requires bold vision and concerted actions if we are to meet conservation goals and human aspirations for current and future generations. Globally, significant progress is now being made to better protect marine ecosystems but pressures from human activities are intensifying and will require global cooperation and action to reduce adverse impacts on future generations. Reflecting this imperative, in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals were endorsed, with a specific goal for oceans. Encouragingly, the extent of marine protected areas is beginning to rise steadily, and some major country commitments are being made to greatly increase their marine protected area estates. It is vital that these initiatives are widely understood, strongly supported and adequately resourced to build the capacity needed to deliver their objectives and protect our oceans. We hope that the papers in this volume will contribute towards that end.