Marine protected areas are supposed to be safe havens for coral reefs, seagrass, fish nurseries and coastal wildlife. But a new global study suggests that many of them are protected in name only.

Research from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Queensland, published in Ocean & Coastal Management, found that nearly three out of four marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide are exposed to sewage pollution. In the tropical ocean regions most vital for coral reefs and marine biodiversity, the situation is even worse: between 87 percent and 92 percent of protected areas are contaminated, often at pollution levels ten times higher than nearby unprotected waters.

The study evaluated more than 16,000 marine protected areas globally, and the findings land at an uncomfortable moment. Governments around the world have committed to protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030, under the international “30 by 30” biodiversity target.

But protecting lines on a map means little if polluted wastewater keeps pouring in from land.

Wastewater: used water from homes, businesses and sewage systems, carries nutrients, pathogens and chemicals into rivers and oceans. Those pollutants can fuel harmful algal blooms, weaken coral reefs, damage seagrass meadows and threaten marine wildlife. Scientists have already linked wastewater pollution to coral reef decline around the world and even Alzheimer’s-like brain disease in dolphins.

And this is not just a marine issue. Polluted water is also a human health crisis, contributing to diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever and causing an estimated 1.4 million deaths each year, alongside billions in economic losses.

“What we found was striking,” said lead author David E. Carrasco Rivera, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Queensland. “In region after region, the areas set aside for conservation were actually receiving more pollution than the areas with no protection at all.”

The researchers closely analyzed 1,855 coastal MPAs in six tropical regions, including East Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Coral Triangle, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, Australasia and Melanesia, and the Middle East and North Africa.

“Even a perfectly managed marine protected area will fail if wastewater keeps flowing in from upstream,” said Dr. Amelia Wenger, WCS Global Water Pollution Lead.

The message is simple: ocean conservation cannot stop at the shoreline. If governments want marine protected areas to actually protect marine life, they need to invest in sewage treatment, land-based pollution control, and smarter coastal planning, before “protected” becomes another empty word.

The question begs to be answered: can private people protect land better than poorly-run government bodies? And ask yourself when you are staying at a tropical resort or visit a nature paradise? Where is all my plastic and poop going?

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Campaigners in Lebanon are asking for support to protect an ancient Phoenician coastline which is under threat due to a port project

Lebanese environment campaigners are calling on nature lovers far and wide to help them protect an important piece of their natural heritage along the Mediterranean Sea. It seems that a beautiful part of the Southern coastline, the Naqura cliffs and beach, which is home to turtles is the site of a possible petroleum port development project. In an online petition they are calling on the government to declare the coastal area in south of Lebanon that stretches from the Naqura Cliffs to the Tyre Reserve a nationally protected area.

“Endangered species of turtles have been coming from all around the Mediterranean for thousands of years to lay their eggs and reproduce on these beaches [Mansouri beach and Kolaila beach],” explains campaigners.

According to the campaign material, the Lebanese coast is not more than a mere 210km long. Many parts of the coast are polluted and/or affected by illegal constructions. Less than 5 % of the coast remains clean and untouched. As such protecting this section currently under threat is of extreme importance as it is one of the last remaining natural spots on the historic ancient Phoenician coast.

The ancient Phoenician coast with its unique rock formation at the Naqura Cliffs is being endangered by a port project. A project campaigners are calling absurd and destructive.

You can help support the campaign by following developments here and also signing this petition. So far, over 7000 people have signed the petition bringing them pretty close to their 10,000 target.

For more on environmental issues in Lebanon see: 

Lebanon Joins CITES: Can We Stop Killing Everything Now?

Vertical Gardens Green Lebanese Restaurant

World’s Oldest Living Olive Trees in Lebanon

Live Art and Polemical Politics on the Lebanese Coast

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Bottom trawlers were forced to set sail after Oman effected its ban on this destructive “fishing” practice. A small Gulf country that borders the United Arab Emirates, Oman is renowned for its incredible coral reefs and marine diversity. But 16 large factory fishing boats operating off shore had jeopardized the Sultanate’s marine health and put many fishermen out of work.

First put in place by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in May 2009, the ban stipulated that licensed bottom trawlers would have to pack up their nets and leave the Sultanate’s waters within two years. And now, their time is up. Oman is the first Gulf country to officially ban bottom trawling.

Bulldozing the sea floor

Bottom trawlers drag massive nets with mouths sometimes as large as a rugby field across the sea floor or sea mount. These nets are kept in place with “doors” that can weigh up to five tons.

Used to capture bottom-dwelling fish, the nets are like bulldozers that raze everything in sight, including non-edible marine creatures and sensitive coral reefs. Areas destroyed by commercial trawling won’t recover for centuries, according to the Gulf Coast Preservation Society in the United States.

Local fishermen express huge relief

The Times of Oman reports that local fishermen are deeply relieved that the trawlers are gone. One man told the paper that he would spend 18 hours at sea and still have to buy his fish at the market. Bottom trawlers sucked up all of the catch, and forced many subsistence fishermen to raise their prices to unsustainable levels.

Local Omanis are in shock. In the Middle East, bans such as those on shark finning and owning endangered wildlife are often ignored. But the Sultanate contacted trawlers to remind them that their two year grace period would soon end, and on Wednesday followed through on banning them from Oman’s territorial waters.

“I am quite sure that fish prices will come down now as our boats will be full of different varieties of fish, like it used to once,” a local fisherman, Haroon Al H’sani, told the Times.

Oman leads the green way

Oman’s environmental protection leadership can be traced back to March 1979 when the the Council for Conservation of the Environment and Prevention of Pollution (CCEPP) was first established. Then in 1996, the Sultanate created their National Conservation Strategy.

Since then, earth trends reports that 32 Marine and Littoral Protected Areas have been established.

When the Gulf waters begin to teem with life and local fishermen can make a decent living again, hopefully Oman’s leadership will rub off on other Gulf countries. This is a huge victory for our oceans. And a milestone for the Middle East.

:: The Times of Oman

More on commercial and illegal fishing practices in the Gulf:

Reporter’s Notebook: Tasteless Dry Shark Fin For Sale

Working with Local Fisherman to Tackle Shark Finning

Hope Amidst Dubai’s Marine Destruction

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Watermen and women from 52 countries will unite this World Environment Day to raise funds for the Daram Marine Reserve in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.

Pull out your oars and go paddling this World Environment Day, June 5, 2011. Started by a crew of Dubai-based watermen distressed by the state of our oceans but determined to give back in a postive and meaningful way, Paddle for the Planet aims to help establish and support a patchwork of marine reserves across the globe. Plagued by overfishing, pollution, coral depletion, and rising acidification as a result of higher carbon concentrations in our atmosphere, our oceans need help. P4P makes marine conservation splashing fun. 

Water lovers in 52 countries will get together this weekend to raise awareness and funds for the Daram Marine reserve in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, the first such project to receive P4P support. Renowned conservation photographer and a P4P ambassador, Paul Hilton shared these images from a recent trip to the reserve.

After assisting Misool conservation to free a guitar ray, Leopard Oceanic Ray, Wobbygong and Bow Mouth Guitar Ray in the reserve, which is still threatened by illegal fishing activity, Hilton wrote in his blog:

A network of marine reserves with a “no-take policy” is the only way we are going to save our oceans, where everyone benefits including local fishing communities, tourists, dive operators and most of all, the creatures that live in and around these protected areas. Fisheries recover in just a few years, over flowing into other areas. Reefs regenerate, sea birds move back into areas that were once fished out.

Colombian Singer/Songwriter Fatiniza, who is based in Dubai, has also teamed up with P4P to raise awareness for the marine environment. Her song “Today” was chosen as the theme song for the event.

Fatiniza told the organizers, “My objective is complete. I wrote ‘Today’ specifically with awareness for the environment in mind, hoping that an organization could use it to reach out to the public and encourage them to take action today. I have planted my seed and I am so happy that I can help make a difference in the world through my music.”

In Dubai, the launch will take place at 8am on Saturday June 4th with hundreds of paddlers in surf skis, paddle boats and Dragon boats scheduled to head out from the Jumeirah beach Hotel, Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah. Fatiniza will also perform the theme song at the Dubai event..

For more information or to find a P4P team in your area, visit http://www.paddlefortheplanet.org.

all images courtesy Paul Hilton

More on Marine Conservation throughout the Middle East:

A Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist: Interview

Must it be The End of the Line for Fish?

Hope Amidst Dubai’s Marine Destruction

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