Research Document 2021/024

Design Strategies for the Northern Shelf Bioregional Marine Protected Area Network

By Martone, R.G., Robb, C.K., Gale, K.S.P., Frid, A., McDougall, C., and Rubidge, E.

Abstract

Canada has committed to establishing a well-connected system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that protect at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. To advance that goal in the Pacific region, the Government of Canada, Government of British Columbia (BC), and 16 member First Nations are collaborating on marine planning in the Northern Shelf Bioregion (NSB). A set of goals, objectives, principles, and design guidelines informed the development of conservation priorities, which are the ecological and cultural features to be prioritized for protection within the MPA network, and design strategies, which describe how to spatially incorporate ecological conservation priorities into the network. This paper focuses exclusively on Goal 1 of the Canada – BC MPA Network Strategy (2014), which specifies the protection and maintenance of marine biodiversity, ecological representation and special natural features. We developed ecological design strategies for the MPA network in the NSB. These include spatial ecological conservation targets specifying how much of each ecological conservation priority (or feature) an MPA network aims to protect, and approaches for determining the size, shape, and protection levels of MPAs, as well as the connectivity, representation, and replication of ecological conservation priorities. Specifically we: (1) set the context for developing ecological design strategies for the MPA network in the NSB by reviewing the components of MPA network planning processes in BC, best practices from these and other planning processes, and guidance from the scientific literature; (2) developed a method for setting coarse-filter and fine-filter ecological conservation targets and a flow diagram to determine which ecological conservation priority features and associated ecological conservation targets are appropriate for inclusion in site-selection analyses in the next phase of planning; (3) provided recommendations on design strategies for size, spacing, and replication by adapting best practices and guidance from the literature to the NSB; and (4) developed an iterative approach for adjusting ecological conservation targets in site-selection analyses based on protection levels that are linked to MPA effectiveness research. Together with the conservation priorities, the design strategies will inform site selection analyses conducted during the design scenarios phase of MPA network planning to identify priority areas for conservation and options for possible MPA network configurations in the NSB.

Research Document 2021/024 (PDF, 6,932 KB)

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