Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation
Protected areas in marine spaces (MPAs) are the principal tool to maintain the health, functionality, and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Over the last two decades, the implementation of various types of MPAs has accelerated all over the world. While Iceland has been successful in formally protec...
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ftskemman:oai:skemman.is:1946/41336 2023-05-15T16:46:24+02:00 Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation Eveline Bünter 1985- Háskóli Íslands 2022-06 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1946/41336 en eng http://hdl.handle.net/1946/41336 Umhverfisfræði Auðlindafræði Verndun sjávar Thesis Master's 2022 ftskemman 2022-12-11T06:54:33Z Protected areas in marine spaces (MPAs) are the principal tool to maintain the health, functionality, and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Over the last two decades, the implementation of various types of MPAs has accelerated all over the world. While Iceland has been successful in formally protecting about 25% of its terrestrial surface, with a protected area coverage of less than 1% it has failed to equitably conserve its ocean. Thus, Iceland fell short to fulfil its commitment regarding target 14.5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, that was to conserve at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. This thesis examines the development and implementation status of MPAs in Iceland and seeks to identify obstacles that impede the progress of designating protected areas in the ocean. Therefore, this study enquires the following questions: (1) what is the role of the ocean for Iceland and why does it need protection? (2) what is the status of MPA designations? (3) what national and international mechanisms are in place for designating MPAs, and what are the major obstacles? Data gathered from literature, international databases, as well as national laws and policies has been compiled and analysed to answer these questions. Firstly, this study reveals a very poor state of MPAs not only due to the small total size of protected surface area, but also regarding their insufficient effectiveness. Secondly, complicated governmental structures decelerate the designation process, which is further exacerbated by deficient activity of one of the most important key actors: the general public. Verndarsvæði í hafi (MPA) er eitt besta tækið til að viðhalda heilbrigðum, virkum og líffræðilegum fjölbreytileika vistkerfa hafsins. Undanfarna áratugi hefur verndarsvæðum í hafi fjölgað hratt um allan heim. Þó að það hafi hafi tekist formlega að vernda um 25% af yfirborði á þurrlendi á Íslandi er innan við 1% af hafsvæði Íslands undir formlegri verndun sem verndarsvæði í hafi. Ísland hefur því ekki staðið við ... Thesis Iceland Skemman (Iceland) |
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Skemman (Iceland) |
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ftskemman |
language |
English |
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Umhverfisfræði Auðlindafræði Verndun sjávar |
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Umhverfisfræði Auðlindafræði Verndun sjávar Eveline Bünter 1985- Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
topic_facet |
Umhverfisfræði Auðlindafræði Verndun sjávar |
description |
Protected areas in marine spaces (MPAs) are the principal tool to maintain the health, functionality, and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Over the last two decades, the implementation of various types of MPAs has accelerated all over the world. While Iceland has been successful in formally protecting about 25% of its terrestrial surface, with a protected area coverage of less than 1% it has failed to equitably conserve its ocean. Thus, Iceland fell short to fulfil its commitment regarding target 14.5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, that was to conserve at least 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. This thesis examines the development and implementation status of MPAs in Iceland and seeks to identify obstacles that impede the progress of designating protected areas in the ocean. Therefore, this study enquires the following questions: (1) what is the role of the ocean for Iceland and why does it need protection? (2) what is the status of MPA designations? (3) what national and international mechanisms are in place for designating MPAs, and what are the major obstacles? Data gathered from literature, international databases, as well as national laws and policies has been compiled and analysed to answer these questions. Firstly, this study reveals a very poor state of MPAs not only due to the small total size of protected surface area, but also regarding their insufficient effectiveness. Secondly, complicated governmental structures decelerate the designation process, which is further exacerbated by deficient activity of one of the most important key actors: the general public. Verndarsvæði í hafi (MPA) er eitt besta tækið til að viðhalda heilbrigðum, virkum og líffræðilegum fjölbreytileika vistkerfa hafsins. Undanfarna áratugi hefur verndarsvæðum í hafi fjölgað hratt um allan heim. Þó að það hafi hafi tekist formlega að vernda um 25% af yfirborði á þurrlendi á Íslandi er innan við 1% af hafsvæði Íslands undir formlegri verndun sem verndarsvæði í hafi. Ísland hefur því ekki staðið við ... |
author2 |
Háskóli Íslands |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Eveline Bünter 1985- |
author_facet |
Eveline Bünter 1985- |
author_sort |
Eveline Bünter 1985- |
title |
Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
title_short |
Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
title_full |
Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
title_fullStr |
Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Marine Protected Areas in Iceland, Assessment of Designation and Implementation |
title_sort |
marine protected areas in iceland, assessment of designation and implementation |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1946/41336 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1946/41336 |
_version_ |
1766036496903569408 |