Coral reefs are a vital resource in the low-island Republic of Maldives, where the sustainable use of these resources is central to the continued economic success of the country's two largest sectors: tourism and fisheries. This recognition has led to numerous reef conservation and protection activities, including the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). As in many MPAs of the world, those in the Maldives exist only as paper parks: areas protected on paper but not in practice. Despite general recognition of the importance of reef resources, insufficient funds are allocated by government to implement these parks. This situation is compounded by the absence of specific information and detailed understanding by policy makers of the true value and economic benefits of reef resources. This thesis examines the an economic valuation of improved management of MPAs in the Maldives using Dhigali Haa, an MPA in Baa Atoll, Maldives, as a case study. A contingent valuation survey to elicit the willingness to pay of tourists visiting Baa Atoll to see improved management at the MPA was used in estimating the potential benefits. In addition, local community consultations were conducted to understand local perceptions of MPAs and their effectiveness, and to develop a feasible improved management scenario. The local consultations confirmed that Dhigali Haa was not effectively managed, leading to continued illegal use and degradation of the reef. The results of the CV survey revealed support from tourists visiting Baa Atoll to pay for improved management of Dhigali Haa. A one-off conservation fee per visit for all tourists visiting Baa Atoll was preferred over a user fee solely for divers visiting Dhigali Haa. The estimate for the mean WTP for the conservation fee was US$35±5 compared to a mean WTP of US$15±5 for the user fee. Comparisons between the cost of implementing improved management and the benefits gained from tourist fees showed that a conservation fee would be more beneficial than a user fee. The estimated net present value for funding the improved management via a conservation fee was US$8.65 million.

This thesis research analyzed the perceptions of local community residents in Puerto Morelos, Mx., and its affect on the National Marine Park. Social and economic factors affecting the level of support for the marine park were evaluated. Formal semi-structured written surveys were conducted with stakeholders in two major sub-regions affected by the protected zone. The survey allowed for comparison of stakeholders providing qualitative and quantitative information regarding attitudes, regulation awareness, and formation of the marine protected area. The results demonstrated a difference in knowledge level based on location in the community. Demographic indicators including education, nationality and community residency time are significant influences on the community perception of marine protection. There was a significant relationship between economic growth provided by the protected area and the level of support for protection resources. Further understanding of the relationship between social indicators and resource management is needed for conservation of important coastal resources.

Recently adopted global marine protection targets aim to protect 10-30% of marine habitats within the next 3 to 5 years. However, these targets were adopted without prior assessment of their attainability. Moreover, our ability to monitor progress towards such targets has been constrained by a lack of robust data on marine protected areas (MPAs). In this thesis I present the results of the first explicitly marine-focused, global assessment of MPAs in relation to three global marine protection targets. Approximately 2.35 million km2, equivalent to 0.65% of the world’s oceans, are currently protected, and only 12% of that is ‘no-take’. Over the last two decades, the marine area protected globally has grown at ~5% per year. At this rate, even the most modest target is unlikely to be met for at least several decades. The utility of large-scale conservation targets has been repeatedly questioned, although mainly on ecological grounds. However, if, as is suggested here, their primary role is to motivate behavioural change, then a more serious problem is that they seem to be failing in this regard, too. I explore possible reasons for this and suggest two main problems: firstly, an as yet unmet need to develop a hierarchical system of targets that reflects the multi-scale and pluralistic nature of ecological and political systems; and secondly, feedback mechanisms between political will, perceived attainability, and target formulation which may impede implementation of the targets. Since the adoption of the global targets, no implementation strategy has been developed, which may also impede target attainment. In order to fill this gap, I applied a rarity-complementarity heuristic place prioritisation algorithm (PPA) to a dataset consisting of 1038 global species distributions with 0.5° latitude/longitude resolution, under ten scenarios devised to reflect the global targets. This is the first time that species distribution ranges of marine species have been used in a globally synthetic way, and is by far the largest application of a PPA to date. Global priority areas for protection are identified for each scenario, which may be used to identify where regional-scale protected areas network design efforts might be focused. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The queen conch, Lobatus gigas, is key to the Bahamian way of life. Recent studies suggest that commercial stocks will be depleted in The Bahamas in 10-15 years. In response to this, an egg farm was established in a historic breeding ground in Moriah Harbour Cay National Park, Exuma, Bahamas. Previously used for aquaculture, the egg farm concept was tested as a restoration method. Conch were tagged (n=251) and stocked in a 1,385 m2 (0.14 ha) circular enclosure at an equivalent density of 1,813/ha or 1 conch/5.5 m2. The egg farm was visited every 24-48 hours during the study period (May 26-August 14, 2019) to examine conch distribution, burial, predation, breeding, and egg mass laying. Queen conch Essential Fish Habitat was characterized in this study, contributing to a knowledge gap concerning conch spawning areas. No egg masses were laid, despite temperature, sediment solid-phase organics, calcium carbonate, and other seagrass habitat characteristics displaying similarities to previous studies in which conch spawned. It is speculated that egg laying did not occur due to handling disturbances, which may have caused the conch to resorb their gonads. Comprehensive recommendations are made for future egg farms intended for restoration. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / Hard benthic reefs are increasingly known as highly diverse biodiversity ecosystems where sponges constitute a significant proportion of inhabitants. Nearly 60% of the seabed over the inner and outer shelf on the Agulhas Bank comprises hard substrata, and in combination with the convergence of the cold Benguela and the warm Agulhas Currents serves to create a nutrient rich zone supporting multiple fish nurseries. Here we provide the first information on hard benthic reef habitats on the subphotic zone of the Agulhas Bank complex marine protected area, which include Alphard Banks, 72 Mile Reef and 45 Mile Reef, as well as the shallow reefs which include 12 Mile Reef, 6 Mile Reef, 7 Mile Reef, Marthas Reef and inshore reefs within the Tsitsikamma marine protected area. The aim is to provide baseline data on the sponge fauna by identifying species and describing the biodiversity of these hard reefs between the depths 10–200 m on the south coast of South Africa. / 2024

Marine protected areas are recognized as an important approach to conserve marine ecosystems and biodiversity as well as to manage costal and marine resource. This thesis addresses the development and management of marine protected areas in Australia and in China. Australia and China are major maritime countries with diverse marine creatures and ecosystems. Both countries have adopted marine protected areas as a management tool to protect the marine environment. This thesis introduces their marine environment and threats, and then makes a close study of the development, legislation and management of marine protected areas in both Australia and China. Two case studies, Jervis Bay Marine Park in Australia, and Shankou Mangrove Marine Nature Reserve in China provide examples of the management strategies and lessons learnt. In order to improve the management of marine protected areas in China, the thesis analyzes the conflicts in the development of marine protected areas in China and prescribes community participation and the marine special reserve as solutions to promote the development of marine protected areas. This study also examines how the Australian Defence Force, an important stakeholder, manages its activities in the marine protected areas.

The once pristine and rich marine environment of the South China Sea is degrading at an alarming rate due to the rapid socioeconomic development of the region. Despite this, and because mainly of complicated sovereignty and maritime boundary disputes, coastal States have not been able to develop effective regional cooperation to safeguard the shared marine environment. This dissertation, “Towards a Network of Marine Protected Areas in the South China Sea: Legal and Political Perspectives”, researches legal and political measures to support the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. Such a network, if properly developed, would not only help to protect the marine environment and resources of the region but also contribute to lower the tension among its coastal States. These measures should be developed in accordance with international law, based on the specific geopolitical context of the South China Sea region and take into consideration experiences in developing regional networks of marine protected areas from other marine regions. Consequently, three optional categories of measures for the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea are suggested at the end. They include national-focused measures; measures to enhance the regional cooperation; and measures to build a regime for marine protected areas and network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. These measures could be taken alternatively or on a step-by-step basis.

This qualitative field study is conducted on the Andaman Islands in India and focuses on the sustainable destination development and SCUBA diving tourism. The island in focus, Havelock, is an emerging tourist destination and an international airport is scheduled to open in the Andamans in 2021. The topic is approached through observation and interviews with people involved with the SCUBA diving industry, selected informants, and diving tourists. Different scales that operate with the island’s development - global, national, regional and local - are investigated. Global warming poses a threat to the coral reefs that is the main resource for tourism at the location and the longterm residents’ education in the subject is absent. The communication between state and nation is a problem as laws are passed without participation or awareness from the local community which makes it difficult for businessowners to invest. Furthermore, diver motivation and satisfaction are investigated. The main motivation of beginner level diving tourists from India are not educated in how the underwater world looks like, but are motivated to see what they already know through movies like “Finding Nemo”. The study reveals that a degraded coral reef does not affect diver satisfaction where the divers are not educated in how a healthy reef looks like. The local Marine Protected Area - Rani Jhansi Marine National Park - is in 2019 funded by the government and there are currently no entrance fees for diving tourists. However, this has been proved successful in other destinations. The Marine Protected Area is perceived as positive by the local SCUBA industry, but it is not interacting with its regulation and governing.

InstituÃdas como uma reaÃÃo limitante ao crescimento desmedido do homem sobre o ambiente natural, as Ãreas protegidas apresentam-se presentemente como um relevante componente nas estratÃgias de conservaÃÃo ambiental mundial. MÃltiplos tipos de ecossistemas ameaÃados pela utilizaÃÃo predatÃria de suas extensÃes beneficiam-se diretamente da instituiÃÃo de regras de condutas impostas pela criaÃÃo de unidades de conservaÃÃo, dentre estes, encontram-se as Ãreas marÃtimas. No entanto, assim como espaÃos terrestres, a mera implantaÃÃo de uma Ãrea marinha protegida nÃo garante a preservaÃÃo do ambiente indicado. Deve-se primar pelo exercÃcio de atividades administrativas eficientes que permitam que os objetivos de conservaÃÃo do espaÃo sejam atingidos, de forma a beneficiar o maior nÃmero possÃvel de setores da sociedade local. Visando analisar o grau de efetividade do manejo do Parque Estadual Marinho da Pedra da Risca do Meio, Ãnica unidade de conservaÃÃo marinha do Estado do CearÃ, construiu-se um instrumental metodolÃgico baseado na anÃlise de 24 variÃveis, distribuÃdas entre 7 Ãmbitos. Para cada Ãmbito, foram elaboradas matrizes de avaliaÃÃo que permitiram a classificaÃÃo da efetividade do manejo de cada um destes e, ao integrÃ-los, da unidade de conservaÃÃo em si. A contribuiÃÃo inovadora deste estudo foi o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia que, embora apresente pontos em comum com metodologias anteriormente utilizadas, seja aplicada Ãs Ãreas marinhas protegidas, unidades de conservaÃÃo ainda carentes de estudos sobre eficiÃncia de manejo. Desta forma, a anÃlise do manejo do Parque Estadual Marinho da Pedra da Risca do Meio resultou em 61,46% do seu nÃvel Ãtimo, classificando-o como possuidor de um manejo medianamente satisfatÃrio. Inferiu-se, portanto, que apesar de possuir requisitos bÃsicos de manejo de uma unidade de conservaÃÃo essa Ãrea ainda apresenta lacunas estruturais e administrativas que dificultam o estabelecimento de aÃÃes eficazes na conservaÃÃo dos recursos naturais locais. / Created as a reaction to unlimited growth of modern society over environment, protected areas are nowadays distinctive components in a world-wide conservation strategy. Many kinds of threatened ecosystems are directly benefited by them, avoiding predatory uses of its extensions due to restrictions of behaviors imposed by their establishment. Amongst these, there are maritime areas. However, as well as terrestrial spaces, the mere creation of a marine protected area does not guarantee the environment preservation. The development of efficient administrative activities is really necessary, allowing the reach of its conservation objectives, whilst benefiting the largest possible number of society sectors. Aiming to analyze the effectiveness degree of Pedra da Risca do Meio Marine State Park handling, the only marine protected area of CearÃ, it was established a methodology that analysis 24 variables distributed between 7 ambits. For each ambit, it was elaborated an evaluation matrix that allows a qualification of its handling effectiveness. Integrating all evaluated sector, it was possible to measure the marine protected areaâs handling effectiveness. The analysis of Pedra da Risca do Meio Marine State Park handling effectiveness resulted in a 61.46% of its excellent level, being classified as a medium satisfactory handling. It was inferred, therefore, that although it possess the basic requirement of handling, this marine protected area still have structural and administrative gaps that make it difficult to establish efficient actions in local natural resources conservation.

Virtually all marine conservation planning and management models in place or proposed have in common the need for improved scientific rigour in identifying and characterising the marine habitats encompassed. An emerging central theme in the last few years has been the concept of representativeness, or representative systems of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The habitat classification and mapping needed to incorporate considerations of representativeness into MPA planning must logically be carried out at the same scale at which management occurs. Management of highly protected areas occurs almost exclusively at local scales or finer, independent of the reservation model or philosophy employed. Moreton Bay, on Australia’s east coast, was selected for studies at the local scale to map and classify macrobenthic habitats. In a site scale (1 km) trial for the major habitat classification study, remote underwater videography was used to map and characterise an unusual assemblage of epibenthic invertebrates on soft sediments. The assemblage included congregations of the comatulid crinoid Zygometra cf. Z. microdiscus (Bell) at densities up to 0.88 individuals.m-2, comparable to those found in coral reef habitats. There was no correlation between the distribution of this species and commonly used abiotic surrogates depth (6 – 18 m), sediment composition and residual current. This site scale trial is the first quantitative assessment of crinoid density and distribution in shallow water soft-sediment environments. The high densities found are significant in terms of the generally accepted picture of shallow-water crinoids as essentially reefal fauna. The findings highlight the conservation benefits of an inclusive approach to marine habitat survey and mapping. Assemblages such as the one described, although they may be of scientific and ecological significance, would have been overlooked by common approaches to marine conservation planning which emphasise highly productive or aesthetically appealing habitats. Most habitat mapping studies rely solely or in part on abiotic surrogates for patterns of biodiversity. The utility of abiotic variables in predicting biological distributions at the local scale (10 km) was tested. Habitat classifications of the same set of 41 sites based on 6 abiotic variables and abundances of 89 taxa and bioturbation indicators were compared using correlation, regression and ordination analyses. The concepts of false homogeneity and false heterogeneity were defined to describe types of errors associated with using abiotic surrogates to construct habitat maps. The best prediction by abiotic surrogates explained less than 30% of the pattern of biological similarity. Errors of false homogeneity were between 20 and 62%, depending on the methods of estimation. Predictive capability of abiotic surrogates at the taxon level was poor, with only 6% of taxon / surrogate correlations significant. These results have implications for the widespread use of abiotic surrogates in marine habitat mapping to plan for, or assess, representation in Marine Protected Areas. Abiotic factors did not discriminate sufficiently between different soft bottom communities to be a reliable basis for mapping. Habitat mapping for the design of Marine Protected Areas is critically affected by the scale of the source information. The relationship between biological similarity of macrobenthos and the distance between sites was investigated at both site and local scales, and for separate biotic groups. There was a significant negative correlation between similarity and distance, in that sites further apart were less similar than sites close together. The relationship, although significant, was quite weak at the site scale. Rank correlograms showed that similarity was high at scales of 10 km or less, and declined markedly with increasing distance. There was evidence of patchiness in the distributions of some biotic groups, especially seagrass and anthozoans, at scales less than 16 km. In other biotic groups there was an essentially monotonic decline in similarity with distance. The spatial agglomeration approach to habitat mapping was valid in the study area. Site spacing of less than 10 km was necessary to capture important components of biological similarity. Site spacing of less than 2.5 km did not appear to be warranted. Macrobenthic habitat types were classified and mapped at 78 sites spaced 5 km apart. The area mapped was about 2,400 km2 and extended from estuarine shallow subtidal waters to offshore areas to the 50 m isobath. Nine habitat types were recognised, with only one on hard substrate. The habitat mapping characterised several habitat types not previously described in the area and located deepwater algal and soft coral reefs not previously reported. Seagrass beds were encountered in several locations where their occurrence was either unknown or had not previously been quantified. The representation of the derived habitat types within an existing marine protected area was assessed. Only two habitat types were represented in highly protected zones, with less than 3% of each included The study represents the most spatially comprehensive survey of epibenthos undertaken in Moreton Bay, with over 40,000 m2 surveyed. Derived habitat maps provide a robust basis for inclusion of representative examples of all habitat types in marine protected area planning in and adjacent to Moreton Bay. The utility of video data to conduct a low-cost habitat survey over a comparatively large area was also demonstrated. The method used has potentially wide application for the survey and design of marine protected areas.