27 / 60
27
.
Sustainable Use of the Oceans
SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans,
seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Marine and coastal ecosystem services provide a bounty of
provisions for achieving SDGs, but there are sustainable limits.
We must conserve and sustainably use our oceans (SDG14
conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine
resources for sustainable development
). Marine ecosystems
face a wide range of threats including land and marine based
pollution, eutrophication, infrastructure development (leading
to habitat loss and degradation), sedimentation, overfishing,
hypoxia (de-oxygenation), invasive species, acidification and
changes in temperature, currents and sea level (Brander,
2007; Turley et al., 2013; Noone et al. 2014). The population of
phytoplankton has varied through time and space, and may
now be declining noticeably in parts of the ocean (Boyce, 2010).
Marine pollutants include agricultural fertilizers, untreated
wastewater, toxins, litter and oil. These threats have a variety of
negative impacts on marine ecosystems and their services.
Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been advanced
as potential means of conserving coastal and marine
areas. An MPA is a clearly defined geographical space,
recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other
effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of
nature and the associated ecosystem services and cultural
values (IUCN-WCPA, 2008). When well designed and
managed, MPAs allow for the protection and restoration
of key habitats, the replenishment of fish stocks and an
enhancement of the resilience of marine ecosystems. The
expansion of MPA coverage is expected to enhance the
provision of marine ecosystem services. A recent study
estimates that the economic benefits of reaching 10 per
cent coverage globally by 2020 are in the range of USD
622–923 billion for the period 2020–2050 (Brander et al.,
2015). Currently, only 3.4 per cent of the global marine area
is designated as an MPA, with 0.59 per cent established as
no-take MPAs.