Implementing Australian commitments to protect marine biodiversity

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Implementing Australian commitments to protect
marine biodiversity

• Jon Nevill,B.A., B.E., M.Env.Sc.
• Dr Marcus Haward, Head, School of Government
  IASOS and ACE CRC University of Tasmania.
• Supporting supervisors from National Oceans
  Office, CSIRO Division of Marine Research, and
  University of Tasmania marine biodiversity.

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Ocean governanceAccording to university
protocols, a PhD must make an original and
substantial contribution to the field of study.
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Is the issue important?

• Continued over-fishing in the face of
  scientific warnings, fishingdown food webs,
  destruction of habitat, and accelerated
  pollutionloading--especially nitrogen
  export--have resulted in significantdegradation
  to coastal and marine ecosystems of both rich and
  poornations. Fragmentation among institutions,
  international agencies,and disciplines, lack of
  cooperation among nations sharing
  marineecosystems, and weak national policies,
  legislation, andenforcement all contribute to
  the need for a new imperative foradopting
  ecosystem-based approaches to managing human
  activitiesin these systems in order to avoid
  serious social and economicdisruption.
• Duda AM and Sherman K (2002) A new
  imperative for improving management of large
  marine ecosystems. Ocean Coast. Manage.
  45(11-12)797-833. (Authors affiliation NOAA)

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Is the issue important?

• Fisheries in many areas under national
  jurisdiction face mounting problems, including
  local overfishing, unauthorised incursions by
  foreign vessels, ecosystem degradation,
  overcapitalisation and excessive fleet sizes,
  under-evaluation of catch, insufficiently
  selective gear, unreliable databases, and
  increasing competition between artisanal and
  industrial fishing, and between fishing and other
  types of activities.
• United Nations Conference on Environment and
  Development 1992 Agenda 21 Chapter 17.

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Project aim

• Over the years the Australian Government has made
  a number of commitments relating to the
  conservation of marine biodiversity. The
  essential aim of this project is to compare the
  most important of these commitments, in a careful
  and critical way, with programs which have been
  put in place by the government relating to the
  management and protection of marine biodiversity.

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Basic assumptions

• Humans have evolved in tribal and physical
  environments favouring those who could adapt to
  rapidly changing situations
• Humans are largely concerned with their immediate
  environment and their immediate future
• Humans are good at meeting crisis situations, but
  have limited abilities and interests in
  predicting long-term or global problems
• Human populations and activities have increased
  so as to effect, and usually degrade, global
  ecosystems - and these effects are increasing
• The future viability of the planets ecosystems
  depends substantially on our ability to create
  cultures and institutions to make up for the
  short term and local perspectives typical in Homo
  sapiens societies.
• The tragedy of the commons (Hardin 1968) and the
  tyranny of small decisions (Odum 1982) continue
  to prevail...

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Is the knowledge already available?Many
international treaties embody reporting
requirements.

• These reports, however, are open to criticism on
  the basis of lack of impartiality, as they are
  generally produced, or at least edited, by the
  government agencies responsible for treaty
  implementation.

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Scope

• Although the scope of the project covers
  Australias entire maritime jurisdiction, case
  studies and examples will be taken, where
  practical, from the Southern Ocean and
  Antarctica.

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Scope
The current scope limits the investigation to
Australian government programs however, if
necessary the study could be expanded to

• (a) consider in more detail the outcomes of
  management programs, particularly with regard to
  vulnerable species or ecosystems or
• (b) consider the programs developed by Australian
  States and Territories which seek to support or
  address international commitments.

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Commitments

• International treaties, conventions and related
  agreements and
• national policy statements.
• There are between 100 and 200 relevant
  international instruments, and about half a dozen
  relevant national policies. Given the
  limitations of the study, the very large number
  of international instruments means that only the
  most important can be reviewed.

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Commitments

• Australias Oceans Policy 2000
• Nat. biodiversity strategy 1996
• IGAE 1992
• Nat. ESD strategy 1992
• Coastal Policy 1995 (Cwealth)

• Law of the Sea Convention 1982
• Convention on Biological Diversity 1992
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic
  Marine Living Resources
• Antarctic Treaty
• Sea Dumping Convention
• Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
• Multilateral and bilateral agreements relating to
  wetlands and migratory birds
• World Charter for Nature.

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Three general objectives pervade marine policy

• maximisation of short term economic returns from
  use of the marine resource
• preservation of the economic capabilities of the
  resource and
• the protection of marine biodiversity.

The management of the oceans role in climate
change may become an area of policy activity in
the future.
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Twin cornerstones of biodiversity conservation

• According to the Convention on Biological
  Diversity 1992, the conservation of biodiversity,
  including marine biodiversity, requires the
  protection of representative examples of all
  major ecosystem types, coupled with the
  sympathetic management of ecosystems outside
  those protected areas.
• The Australian government, through Principle 8 of
  the National Strategy for the Conservation of
  Australias Biological Diversity 1996, has
  endorsed this approach.

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The most significant threats to marine
biodiversity are

• overharvesting and bycatch impacts
• habitat degradation caused by harvesting,
  pollution and climate change and
• the effects of invasive species.
• Relatively minor threats are posed by habitat
  disturbance by aquaculture, traffic, and mining
  and infrastructure activities. Military
  operations, including use of high intensity
  sonar, are of concern. Bioprospecting and
  scientific research have the potential to damage
  marine ecosystems. Disease and catastrophic
  events also present threats.
• To meet commitments, programs must manage threats
  effectively.

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Particularly sensitive marine environments

• Estuaries
• Seagrass and mangrove ecosystems
• Coral reefs
• Seamounts
• Hydrothermal vents
• Deep sea corals
• Deep sea ridges and plateaus
• Under the Marpol Convention 73/78, there
  are two categories of areas where more stringent
  pollution control protocols are in place,
  including Particulary Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs).

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Australian government programs

• Programs developed under the Oceans Policy
• Programs relating to the Environment Protection
  and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, the
  Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution
  from Ships) Act 1983, the Fisheries Management
  Act 1991, and the Antarctic Marine Living
  Resources Act 1981
• Are these programs effective? How do we
  know? Perhaps we could measure the achievement
  of ecosystem management objectives.

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Australian government programs

• Control of exotic marine pests
• Control of IUU fishing in the Australian EEZ
• Prevention of marine pollution
• Promotion of ecosystem-based fisheries management
  (Cwealth and State)
• Promotion of marine protected areas (Cweatlh and
  State)

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Assessing program effectivenessthe role of
ecosystem management objectives

• Marine ecosystem conservation objectives are
  likely to include the long term maintenance of
• ecosystem diversity
• species diversity
• genetic variability within species
• populations of directly impacted species
• populations of ecologically dependent species,
  and
• trophic level balance.
• Unfortunately, measurement of the achievement of
  these objectives is hampered by absence of
  necessary data.
• Gislason H, Sinclair M, Sainsbury K, Oboyle R
  (2000) Symposium overview incorporating
  ecosystem objectives within fisheries management.
  ICES Journal of Marine Sciences 57(3)468-475.

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Comparing commitments with programs requires a
conceptual framework

• Many commitments relate to the management of
  threatening processes. Threat management is a
  key component of marine programs, and such
  management can be examined in terms of efficiency
  and effectiveness if necessary supporting
  information is available. In many (most) cases
  this information is not available. However, the
  way government is approaching the task can be
  assessed, even when effectiveness cannot. Here an
  overall conceptual framework, containing
  governance benchmarks, is needed.
• The choice of a conceptual framework is not a
  scientific question. Ultimately it cannot be
  justified by recourse to either science or
  philosophy, as a large number of alternative
  approaches exist without clear logical
  advantages.
• The choice could perhaps be justified by recourse
  to management principles explicit in various
  international agreements, however again there are
  a very large number (hundreds) of such principles
  without clear logical comparative advantages. To
  use them all would be impractically complicated.
  As examples, consider the six Lisbon Principles,
  and the six FAO fishery principles. There are
  many other similar sets of principles in the
  ocean governance literature.

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The six Lisbon principles 1997

• Efforts toward "successful and sustainable
  management of the world's oceans" can be
  distilled into a series of six principles,
  according to a paper in the journal Science. The
  paper, a synthesis of a 1997 conference in
  Lisbon, Portugal called "Ecological Economics
  and Sustainable Governance of the Oceans," was
  co-authored by 15 scientists from the U.S.,
  Sweden, Portugal, and Australia. The six
  so-called "Lisbon Principles" are
• Fair and responsible Rights to use our natural
  resources come with a responsibility to use them
  efficiently, without depleting them, and in a
  socially fair way.
• Ecological spatial and time frames Ocean
  environments and resources should be managed at
  the spatial scales and time frames most conducive
  to their sustainability, crossing, if
  appropriate, political jurisdictions and
  human generations.
• Precautionary In the face of uncertainty,
  environmental management decisions should err on
  the side of caution.
• Adaptive Given that some level of uncertainty
  always exists. environmental decision-makers
  should continuously adapt management plans as
  new, improved insight becomes available.
• Full cost allocation All costs and benefits
  concerning the use of natural resources should be
  identified and allocated and economic markets
  should reflect these costs and benefits.
• Inclusive Participation of all stakeholders is
  vital in the formulation and successful
  implementation of decisions concerning
  environmental resources.
• Costanza, R. et al. (1998) Principles for
  sustainable governance of the oceans. Science
  281(5374)198-199.

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FAO fisheries governance principlesSissenwine MP
and Mace PM (2003) Governance for responsible
fisheries an ecosystem approach. FAO, Rome
(Italy)

• Goals and constraints should be established that
  characterise the desired state of fisheries and
  undesirable ecosystem changes
• conservation measures should be established that
  are precautionary, take account of species
  interactions, and are adaptive
• allocation of property rights should provide
  incentives for conservation
• decision making processes should be participatory
  and transparent
• ecosystems and species of special concern should
  be protected
• management should be adequately supported,
  including scientific information, enforcement,
  and performance evaluation.
• Other key recommendations of the report
• collaborative research should be encouraged
  between scientific institutions (which should be
  separate from management) and the fishing
  industry
• fishing industry sponsored training programs to
  instill a responsible fishing ethic should be
  developed, and
• quality assurance on scientific advice should be
  provided through transparent peer review
  processes.

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The framework which I have chosen arises from a
merging ofecological systems principles, good
governance principles, and resource management
principles. This framework attempts to capture
the essential elements of concerns expressed in
current ocean governance literature and
agreements. As such, it is more comprehensive
than single sets of principles such as the Lisbon
Principles. It will be reviewed as the study
progresses.
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Careful and critical assessmentEcological
systems principles

• Biodiversity should be protected by the
  establishment of a comprehensive, adequate and
  representative system of ecologically viable
  protected areas, integrated with the sympathetic
  management of all other areas
• marine ecosystems and species of special value or
  vulnerability need special protection.
• economic progress must occur within ecological
  limits sustainable economic progress works on
  the basis of no net loss of ecological assets
• economic progress works with the constancy of
  change, and makes innovation and risk management
  integral to its modus operandi
• integrated and cohesive management should be
  applied across jurisdictional boundaries within
  the commons, recognising that the integrity of
  cross-boundary ecosystems needs to be understood
  and protected
• short-term gains must be weighed up from a
  long-term perspective - sustainability must not
  be prejudiced by short-term gains achieved at the
  expense of declining ecological services, values
  or resilience and
• economic incentives should be applied to markets
  so as to ensure that economic progress in the
  long term goes to those who compete best while
  maintaining or improving ecological assets and
  integrity.
• Adapted from Principle 8 in Commonwealth of
  Australia (1996) National strategy for the
  conservation of Australias biological diversity.
  Department of Environment and Heritage,
  Canberra.

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Careful and critical assessmentPrinciples of
good governance

• Participation resource management arrangements
  should include adequate participation of all
  stakeholders. Long term programs for stakeholder
  education and awareness should be undertaken to
  facilitate informed participation.
• Transparency decisions regarding resource
  management should follow a defined and
  established process. All elements of the process
  should be clearly understood by all participants.
• Reliability (Certainty) the process (of
  reaching strategic management decisions) should
  have clear objectives, be consistent, and be
  conducted within agreed time-frames.

• Accountability decision makers within government
  need to be able to provide clear and detailed
  reasons for their decisions to all stakeholders.
  Appeal provisions to an independent authority
  should exist. Private operators must be
  accountable for commitments made during the
  activity approval process. Impact assessments
  should incorporate impartiality, for example
  through use of independent panels to oversee the
  process.
• Enforceability while governance arrangements
  should be designed to minimise the costs and need
  for enforcement, such enforcement must be
  achievable in practice, adequately resourced, and
  undertaken when necessary.

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Careful and critical assessmentPrinciples of
good governance

• Integrity decisions need to be based on the best
  available information, and all relevant factors
  need to be taken into account by decision-makers.
  Where impacts are uncertain, outcomes should rely
  on sound risk assessment and management, erring
  on the side of caution. Where necessary
  information is lacking, extension of scientific
  knowledge should be undertaken.
• Cost-effectiveness approval processes and
  on-going management arrangements should meet
  stated objectives while imposing the least cost
  to participants. Economic incentives should be
  used to minimise the need for enforcement.

• Flexibility management, including activity
  approval processes, should be able to
  accommodate proposals varying in type, scope of
  impact, and complexity. Flexibility is desirable
  in terms of the form of assessment and management
  processes, issues to be addressed, process
  time-frames, and degree of public participation.
• Practicality activity approval processes and
  ongoing management arrangements should recognise
  community concerns, commercial realities, best
  practice technology, and scientific knowledge and
  uncertainties.

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Careful and critical assessmentNatural resource
management principles

• Full cost allocation All costs and benefits
  concerning the use of natural resources should be
  identified and allocated and economic markets
  should reflect these costs and benefits
• Cumulative impacts the cumulative impacts of
  incremental developments should be managed by
  imposing strategic limits well ahead of
  ecosystems approaching a crisis situation
• Precautionary where the possibility exists of
  serious or irreversible ecological damage, lack
  of scientific certainty should not preclude
  cautious action by decision-makers to prevent
  such damage. Management needs to anticipate,
  rather than react to ecological damage as it
  occurs
• Responsibility rights to resource use entail
  responsibilities for environmental effects,
  including both long term and indirect effects
• Wording taken from the Lisbon Principles.

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Careful and critical assessmentNatural resource
management principles

• Scale-matching arrangements for the management
  of ecosystems (or for managing the human impacts
  on ecosystems) need to understand and accommodate
  the important ecological processes and linkages
  in operation, and the scales and time-frames at
  which they apply
• Adaptive management management arrangements
  should include explicit cyclic phases designed to
  set, measure and achieve objectives in a complex
  and changing environment and
• Continuous improvement management arrangements
  should explicitly seek to increase both
  efficiency and effectiveness over time.

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Quality assurance (EMS) cycle
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If significant gaps are found between commitments
and programs, questions arise as to

• what are the gaps?
• why do they exist?
• are they important?
• are there ways in which the gaps could be reduced
  or eliminated in cost-effective ways?

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Final slideValue of the proposed projectThe
findings of the proposed project should be of
considerable interest and value to policy makers
and resource managers, as the study will enhance
understanding of the effectiveness and efficiency
of policy frameworks and resource management
programs. It should also be of interest to
industry organisations, such as those involved
with fisheries or eco-tourism, as well as to a
variety of international readers, particularly
those involved in developing marine policy.