Political Ecology

Cephalopods are a key component of marine food webs, providing sustenance for myriad marine species. Cephalopods are also of increasing economic importance as evidenced by the rapid rise in their global landings over recent decades. If fisheries continue on this trajectory, conflicts may transpire among cephalopod and finfish fisheries, particularly in ecosystems where cephalopods are [...]

Since 1972, the UNESCO “World Heritage Convention” offers an international canvas for conservation and management that targets areas of high cultural and environmental significance. To support the designation of areas within the 36.000 km2 of New Caledonia coral reefs and lagoons as a World Heritage Site, the natural value and diversity of the proposed zones [...]

Statements of extinction will always be uncertain because of imperfect detection of species in the wild. Two errors can be made when declaring a species extinct. Extinction can be declared prematurely, with a resulting loss of protection and management intervention. Alternatively, limited conservation resources can be wasted attempting to protect a species that no longer [...]

Although recent biodiversity loss has been compared with cataclysmic mass extinctions, we still possess few indicators that can assess the extent or location of biodiversity loss on a global scale. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has mandated development of indicators that can meet the needs of monitoring biodiversity by 2010. To date, many indicators [...]

Habitat destruction is one of the main threats to environmental integrity. Assessing the consequences of human impacts is crucial both to predict and prevent structural and functional changes of habitats. However, to date almost all studies on marine threats, from regional to global scales, have been entirely qualitative and generally based on little more than [...]

This paper presents an overview of the most important types of risk maps that can be distinguished using examples from the scientific literature: contamination maps, exposure maps, hazard maps, vulnerability maps and ‘true’ risk maps. It also discusses, in a general way, the most important issues that need to be addressed when making risk maps [...]

Through the establishment of ecologically significant regions, ecoregions, priority conservation areas, an ecological assessment scorecard, piloted in 10 of North America’s marine protected areas, and the identification of marine species of common conservation concern, the CEC is working with Canada, Mexico and United States to enhance and strengthen conservation initiatives in North America’s marine ecosystems. [...]