Finding the right 10%

In the past few years there has been a rapid increase in the declaration of new marine protected areas around the globe. This increase is driven by countries rushing to fulfil their commitment under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to protect 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas by 2020.

But are these protected areas truly fulfilling this commitment? Aichi Target 11, for instance, states protected areas should include areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services and that they should also be ecologically representative.

CBD Aichi Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape.

So, is just having 10 per cent of a country’s marine jurisdiction in protected areas sufficient? And how do we know which is the right 10 per cent? With two years to go until 2020, now is a good time to begin asking (and answering) these questions.

It is often said that we know more about the surface of the moon that we do about the seafloor. If this is true, then can we know what is within our marine protected areas?

Over the last few years, GRID-Arendal has been tackling this issue. In 2014, we released a global map of seafloor geomorphology that shows all the large physical features on the seafloor including seamounts, canyons, ridges, the continental shelf and the abyssal plains. In all 29 different features were mapped and the results can be found on the Blue Habitats website (www.bluehabitats.org).

Now, as part of the BlueBRIDGE project, we are using this map in conjunction with global data on seagrasses, mangroves and coral reefs to analyse what is in marine protected areas. By using these different data sets we get a better understanding of where the different areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services are located. And we can also check whether these areas are adequately represented in marine protected areas.

We have created a dedicated web based application to make this type of analysis accessible to a wide range of people, especially those without data analysis skills. To produce it, we teamed up with computer scientists from the Italian National Research Institute and programmers from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation in Rome and collectively created a cloud computing application that will enable any user to run this complex analysis for any county.

The application has a visual interface and requires no special skills to use. It can analyse and report on features within a country’s marine jurisdiction much faster than the many hours needed by a trained professional using a powerful desktop computer.

The impact of this work is that people all over the world will be able to get a better understanding of which features are represented within their marine protected areas. This will allow them to meet the 2020 target not just of protecting 10 per cent of the oceans, but the right 10 per cent.

You can learn more about our work on the project’s website. To use or test the application check out this page which will guide you on how to sign in. A webinar on the interface, how it was built and how to use is also available on YouTube. Do not hesitate to contact GRID-Arendal if you have any questions about this work.