The coastal and marine ecosystems in China are of high bio geographic and socio-economic importance, and the country hosts an exceptional abundant marine biodiversity. The rich coastal and marine resources in turn support important industries such as fishing, maritime shipping, and oil and gas explorations, which jointly contribute to over 10% of China’s overall GDP.
However, as the main arena for China’s economic rise, attracting large volumes of labor and capital investments, the coastal regions, particularly the coastal and marine ecosystems in China have been facing increasing threats along with the rapid economic development, urbanization in the coastal regions, and the population growth (1.3 billion account for 20% of world total). Indeed, the pressures on China’s ecosystems and natural resources are unprecedented, which have led to the disappearance of 50% of the area of coastal wetlands, 70% of mangroves, and 80% of coral reefs since the 1950s.
Against this background, this presentation examines the establishment four types of MPAs in China and assesses the protection effort of such an MPA system with specific reference to China’s operational experiences regarding the designation, monitoring, and evaluation procedure of the MPA management. It will highlight the key characteristics of the four types of MPAs, comparing the protection afforded by each and how the expected benefits and outcomes might differ, while considering current challenges to implementation.
Topics: Marine policy , Topics: Effective marine conservation planning , Topics: Other
