The CCSG Marine Connectivity Working Group announces the release of 15 case studies representing a diversity of design and management strategies highlighted in the publication Marine Connectivity Conservation ‘Rules of Thumb’ for MPA and MPA Network Design. Covering 31 countries and also areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), they are now part of the globescapes.org map that features short summaries and direct links to each case with thorough evaluations of the diversity of contexts and challenges, approaches, and results, as well as photographs, maps, and diagrams.
Around the globe, people designing and governing marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly implementing practices that better connect our oceans. These case studies demonstrate how marine connectivity conservation can be applied in practice. They have especially been created to inform managers, network committees, and governing bodies how to achieve greater collaboration and application of best practices for system-based marine protection that increases resilience to climate change and establishes greater ecological and social connectivity across borders and at larger scales.
The cases present a variety of methods, outlined in the ‘Rules of Thumb’ and associated two pager brief, for progressing marine connectivity conservation that include the following considerations:
- Corridors & swimways;
Case study: Marine migratory species connectivity in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (Courtesy Migramar)
- Stepping stones;
- Buffer zones & climate uncertainty;
- Ocean processes;
- Larval dispersal;
- Adult migration;
- Lifecycle habitat needs, including nursery habitat;
- Source-to-sea management;
- Predictive modelling;
- Social connectivity via networks;
- Cross-jurisdictional collaboration; and
- Commercial fisheries management;
