Strong minimum standards for marine protected areas needed, WWF-Canada says

OTTAWA, Aug. 21, 2018 — World Wildlife Fund Canada was pleased to see the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards release this interim report and hopes that the final report, due Sept. 15, will recommend Canada adopt international conservation standards, including banning oil and gas activity in marine protected areas (MPAs). Canada’s current MPA process sets no baseline for protections, which has resulted in a hodge-podge of regulations governing marine protected areas in Canada’s seas, and a lack of certainty for ocean users. 

WWF-Canada was pleased that the interim report recognizes and supports Indigenous protected areas as an important tool for protecting biodiversity while supporting Indigenous self-determination, cultural preservation and economic development. WWF-Canada was also heartened that the panel values a “continued alignment” with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s MPA framework to bolster both conservation standards and to ensure international recognition of Canada’s marine protected areas. WWF-Canada agrees with the panel’s assertion that areas of high ecological value should be prioritized for protection, rather than creating vast protected zones that do not meaningfully reverse biodiversity declines. 

WWF-Canada’s concerns 
One of the panel’s stated principles to guide recommendations is “flexibility to reflect diverse circumstances.” While flexibility can be an important value, WWF-Canada is concerned that too much flexibility could preclude a strong recommendation from the panel to create minimum standards for marine protected areas. Further, the report does not mention the importance of creating networks of marine protected areas, which are known to bring much greater benefits than stand-alone sites.  

In the final report, WWF-Canada would like to see:  

1. A ban on oil and gas activities in all marine protected areas and marine refuges.  
These activities are never compatible with conservation and place wildlife in peril from seismic blasting, oil spills, sediment released by underwater oil drilling and increased oil-industry shipping traffic, which raises the risk of fatal strikes to marine mammals, such as endangered North Atlantic right whales.   

2. Restrictions on large-scale industrial fishing practices that harm marine life, such as bottom-trawling, in marine protected areas and marine refuges. 
These activities disturb the sea-floor habitat and destroy slow-growing species such as cold-water corals, which take years or even decades to regenerate.  

Sigrid Kuehnemund, WWF-Canada vice-president of ocean conservation, said:  
“The National Advisory Panel is to be commended on its thoughtful collection and analysis of the testimony it heard, and World Wildlife Fund Canada is looking forward to the final report in September. We urge the panel to make a strong recommendation for the creation of minimum standards that will provide basic protections for marine protected areas and refuges for all of Canada’s oceans. Those minimum standards, in line with internationally recognized frameworks, should include a ban on oil and gas development in marine protected areas, as well as a ban on damaging fishing activities such as bottom trawling.” 

About World Wildlife Fund Canada 
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.