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Must APAs be 'All at Sea'? Making the Most of What We Already Have for 'Terrestrial' Aquatic Protected Areas

Mark Butz

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA

Theme: TH5

It is conspicuous that success stories of Marine Park Areas (MPAs) are rarely matched for 'terrestrial' systems, despite the range of vital environmental services that those systems provide. Imagine if we had a global framework for recognising the complex environmental, cultural, social and economic values of aquatic ecosystems and managing these in an ecologically-sustainable way. One that spanned alpine bogs to arid ephemerals, to coral reefs, to groundwater and karst systems, coupling water with land, biotic with abiotic. One that accommodated tenures from dedicated reserves to freehold, and balanced community benefits from biodiversity conservation to cultural continuity to primary production. One that stressed integrated management within catchments and encouraged systematic assessment to identify and protect the systems of highest value. One that required continued monitoring of values and reporting of environmental changes, backed up with training, education and public awareness programmes. One that continued to evolve to meet changing trends and needs, with ever-increasing scientific rigour. A Utopian dream? Hardly! The Ramsar Convention of 1971, which now has 130 nations participating, already offers all of these potentials. Australian Ramsar wetlands effectively became 'aquatic protected areas' (APAs) when Commonwealth legislation imposed a statutory regime to protect their ecological character from impacts of actions within or outside the sites, and established mandatory principles for management, including planning and stakeholder participation. Drawing on recent Australian experience, this contribution examines some of the possibilities and challenges of using frameworks and tools already at hand to accelerate and strengthen a comprehensive system of 'terrestrial' APAs.