[OANNES Foro] Assessing the performance of the existing and proposed network of marine protected areas to conserve marine biodiversity in Chile

[Raul Sanchez Scaglioni]

Biological Conservation
Volume 142, Issue 12, December 2009, Pages 3147-3153 
doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.08.016     

Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.


Assessing the performance of the existing and proposed network of marine protected areas to conserve marine biodiversity in Chile 


 
Marcelo F. Tognellia, b, c, , , , Miriam Fernándeza, d,  and Pablo A. Marqueta, e, 


aCenter for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity (CASEB), LIA DIAMS, Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile
bIADIZA – CONICET, CCT Mendoza, CC 507, CP 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
cDepartment of Environmental Sciences and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
dEstación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas and Center, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Alameda 340, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile
eInstituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile

Received 6 February 2009;  
revised 16 July 2009;  
accepted 18 August 2009.  
Available online 11 September 2009. 



Abstract
The growing concern about the profound influence of human activities on marine ecosystems has been the driving force behind the creation of marine reserves in the last few decades. With almost 4200 km of coastline, Chile has not been the exception to this trend. A set of conservation priority sites has recently been proposed by the Chilean government to expand the current marine reserve network. In this study, we used the most comprehensive information currently available on the distribution of 2513 marine species in Chile to assess the efficiency of the existing system of marine protected areas (MPA) and the conservation priority sites identified by the government. Additionally, we evaluated the vulnerability of the reserve network selected with respect to threatening human activities. Our results show that both the existing protected areas and the proposed priority sites are relatively effective at protecting Chilean marine biodiversity. However, the
 majority of the species that are not represented within the existing or projected MPA network have very restricted distributions and are, therefore, of high conservation concern. To cover all species requires a network of 35 MPAs (46% of the total number of planning units). Many of the sites identified as irreplaceable present conflict with one or more human activities, particularly in the central region of the country. This study emphasizes the need for a systematic conservation planning approach to maximize the representation of species and prioritize those areas where conflicts between marine biodiversity conservation and human activities may occur.

Keywords: Marine biodiversity; Protected areas; Priority sites; Systematic conservation planning; Anthropogenic pressures; Chile


      
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