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Researcher(s):
Sadie Kurtz
ENVS course(s): 499 Initiated: January 2015 Completed: Go to project site
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A type of conservation policy is the appointment of protected areas along land as well as bodies of water. Marine protected areas establish a tool for mainstream management to protect biodiversity at range of levels including local, nationally and internationally (Agardy et al. 2003). Marine Protected areas are most commonly defined as,”any area of inter-tidal or sub-tidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical, or cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment” (Kelleher and Kenchington, 1992). Marine systems are very complex to provide protection for, as unlike land you can’t just build a fence around it. In the past marine protected areas were less effective in their resource management but as they’ve developed they’ve started to make conservation and coastal management the priority.
I get the opportunity to study abroad in Tanzania fall of 2015 and Ecuador in spring of 2016. In Ecuador and Tanzania I hope to explore these questions to find out the effectiveness and impact marine protected areas have on their communities:
Do marine protected areas adequately serve as a method of conservation policy and to what extent do they provide a source of protection for marine life?
To what extent have Ecuador and Tanzania created productive and successful marine protected areas? How has their implementation impacted the country?
To answer these questions I look forward to conducting interviews to members of the community that surrounds the marine protected area as well as people that don't live in close proximity. I hope that this will allow me to see the different perceptions of these areas based on the physical proximity to the area. I also hope to contribute to biological studies through my programs as well as outside opportunities. I then hope to compare them to older studies in addition to looking at old public records to start to see the impacts these areas have had on their communities.
Agardy, Tundi, Peter Bridgewater, Michael P. Crosby, Jon Day, Paul K. Dayton, Richard Kenchington, Dan Laffoley, et al. 2003. “Dangerous Targets? Unresolved Issues and Ideological Clashes around Marine Protected Areas.” Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 13 (4): 353–67. doi:10.1002/aqc.583.
Kelleher, Graeme, and R. A. Kenchington. 1991. Guidelines for Establishing Marine Protected Areas. IUCN.