Page 10 - wg308_inf11_eng

The preparation, enactment and enforcement of management plans is the essential
process that turns a newly created “paper MPA” into a real, functioning MPA. This is
perhaps the most important, yet often neglected aspect of creating MPAs. The
process should ensure, among other things, that there is zoning with IUCN Category I
areas for protection of critical habitat and prey spawning areas, and that the various
threats to cetaceans be evaluated and addressed within the context of the MPA and/or
through other means. The ACCOBAMS Scientific Committee could usefully provide
guidelines and assistance in preparing management plans covering these and many
other aspects within the framework of the implementation of the work programme.

To ensure that management measures for cetacean populations within MPAs are properly
designed and implemented in the ACCOBAMS area, the CP of ACCOBAMS charged the
Scientific Committee to draft guidelines (MOP2, Resolution 2.14). These guidelines will be
elaborated as part of the work programme during the next triennium 2008-2011, taking into
account the existing guidelines for the management of MPAs prepared by international
organisations and ensuring proper harmonisation with these tools. During the MPA workshop
at the Fourth Meeting of the Scientific Committee of ACCOBAMS, the Committee is expected
to discuss how to prepare the guidelines (including scope, partners to involve, etc.).

5.3. Training of managers

MPA managers and management staff will require training to plan and implement
management measures. Training opportunities should be made available in Agreement area
countries to help them enhance their national capabilities concerning the planning and the
management of cetacean MPAs. The following activities are recommended as a first step:

- To compile an inventory of existing training courses about cetacean population
monitoring and management. The list of such training courses should be made
available on the ACCOBAMS web site (including course description and
attendance conditions)

- To prepare a training module on cetacean MPA planning and management and
use it to organise national training sessions in the Agreement area.

References

Cañadas, A. 2006. Towards conservation of dolphins in the Alboran sea. PhD Thesis,
European doctorate.

Cañadas, A., Sagarminaga, R., and García-Tiscar, S. 2002. Cetacean distribution related with
depth and slope in the Mediterranean waters off southern Spain. Deep Sea Research I 49(11):
2053–2073.

Cañadas, A., Sagarminaga, R., De Stephanis, R., Urquiola, E. and Hammond, P.S. 2005.
Habitat preference modelling as a conservation tool: proposals for marine protected areas for
cetaceans in southern Spanish waters. Aquatic Conserv: Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst. 15: 495–521

Cañadas, A and Hammond, P.S. in press. Model-based abundance estimates for bottlenose
dolphins off southern Spain: implications for conservation and management. J. Cetacean Res.
Manage.

Fortuna, C. Thesis in process.

Harwood, J. 2001. Marine mammals and their environment in the twenty-first century. Journal

6