BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:90 days to secure the deal! The creation of a large new shark sanc
 tuary within the Galapagos Marine Reserve - Pippa Heylings
DTSTART:20160527T150000Z
DTEND:20160527T160000Z
UID:TALK65364@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:22612
DESCRIPTION:DATE AND TIME CHANGE - Pippa Heylings is still in the Galapago
 s facilitating the finalisation of the Marine Reserve so will be talking t
 o us in May\, not April as originally advertised. This promises to be a fa
 ntastic and topical talk.  \nEcuador has just created a marine reserve the
  size of Belgium in the northern part of the Archipelago\, an area with th
 e highest known abundance of sharks in the world. Pippa Heylings will shar
 e her insights into the politics and policy of this process.  \nPlease joi
 n us in the Large Seminar Room on the first floor of the David Attenboroug
 h Building (New Museums Site).\n\n\nAbstract\n\nOn March 23rd 2016\, Ecuad
 or created a new marine sanctuary in the Galapagos Islands that will offer
  protection to the world’s greatest concentration of sharks. Some 15\,00
 0 square miles (38\,000 sq km) of the waters around Darwin and Wolf - the 
 most northern islands - will be made off limits to all fishing to conserve
  the sharks that congregate there and the ecosystem on which they rely. Se
 veral other smaller “no-take” areas have also been created throughout 
 the volcanic archipelago\, a biodiversity hotspot around 600 miles (1\,000
 km) off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The announcement of the
  new reserve\, which is the same size as Belgium\, means that 32% of the w
 aters around Galápagos will now be protected from fishing and other extra
 ctive industries. It will be incorporated into the existing 80\,000 square
  mile marine reserve created in 1998\, which prohibited all industrial fis
 hing in the second largest marine reserve in the world. As a result\, the 
 following week\, Ecuador was appointed the new President of the Marine Cor
 ridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific\, a regional inter-governmental init
 iative for marine and coastal biodiversity conservation of the islands of 
 Panama\, Costa Rica\, Colombia and Ecuador\; 4 out of these 5 island marin
 e reserves are World Heritage Sites. The initiative seeks to ensure region
 al conservation measures particularly important for the endangered pelagic
  species that depend upon the marine corridor.\n\nAccording to a new study
  by Pelayo Salinas of the Charles Darwin Research Station\, Enriq Sala\, a
 nd colleagues\, fish biomass in this area of the Galapagos Marine Reserve 
 is on average 17.5 tons per hectare. That’s about twice as high as the s
 econd highest area known to science\, the nearby Cocos Island National Par
 k\, Costa Rica. Another recent study\, this time by Alex Hearn\, has shown
  that the northern sanctuary is the only known place in the world where pr
 egnant whale sharks are regularly seen\, using this area as a regular pit-
 stop in their gestational stage. Until now\, small-scale local fishing coo
 peratives had been allowed to operate in the area\, but the government say
 s additional protection is now essential as the habitat has come under inc
 reased pressure from global warming and incursions by industrial trawlers 
 and illegal shark fin hunters. Tourism operators\, particularly those offe
 ring dive tourism\, are allowed within the new sanctuary.\n\nNevertheless\
 , with the ink still drying on the paper\, there is still much to be lost 
 and won. There have already been several street protests by local fisherme
 n. As part of the negotiations and trade-offs to secure the new zoning pla
 n with the creation of the large no-take sanctuary in the north\, the gove
 rnment agreed to a series of alternatives and “compensatory” measures 
 for the local artisanal fishermen – with the condition that these would 
 be set in motion within 90 days. When questioned with a certain degree of 
 mistrust by the fishermen regarding the credibility and feasibility of the
 se alternatives\, the Minister offered his resignation if the government d
 id not deliver. The 90 days started from the day of the signed Ministerial
  Agreement on 23rd March. Some of these measures offered are controversial
  in themselves\, including research on modified forms of long-line fishing
  for the local fishermen within other parts of the Reserve\; as well as th
 e possibility to adjust some of the earlier agreed no-take areas in the re
 st of the archipelago (where there may not be large endangered pelagics bu
 t where there are high densities of Galapagos endemism). The distribution 
 of costs and benefits of the new sanctuary are being debated fiercely\, an
 d the role of tourism needs to be addressed\, as well as the capacity of t
 he government to control this large oceanic area\, where there are also re
 gular illegal incursions by flotillas of smaller boats to do long-line fis
 hing by the industrial fishing fleet from Ecuador\, Costa Rica and other c
 ountries.\n\nPippa Heylings lived and worked in the Galapagos for 6 years\
 , and facilitated the creation of the Marine Reserve in 1998 and the first
  consensus-based zoning plan in 2000. She has now been invited by the Mini
 stry of Environment and the Galapagos National Park to facilitate the 90-d
 ay process to secure the status of the new zoning plan and the shark sanct
 uary - and the sustainability of its implementation. This is an intensive\
 , mutli-stakeholder process of conflict management working at the epicentr
 e of science\, policy\, practice and conflict. Pippa Heylings is a special
 ist in marine governance and professional facilitator of social and enviro
 nmental conflict management. On March 23rd 2016\, Ecuador created a new ma
 rine sanctuary in the Galapagos Islands that will offer protection to the 
 world’s greatest concentration of sharks. Some 15\,000 square miles (38\
 ,000 sq km) of the waters around Darwin and Wolf - the most northern islan
 ds - will be made off limits to all fishing to conserve the sharks that co
 ngregate there and the ecosystem on which they rely. Several other smaller
  “no-take” areas have also been created throughout the volcanic archip
 elago\, a biodiversity hotspot around 600 miles (1\,000km) off the coast o
 f Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The announcement of the new reserve\, whic
 h is the same size as Belgium\, means that 32% of the waters around Galáp
 agos will now be protected from fishing and other extractive industries. I
 t will be incorporated into the existing 80\,000 square mile marine reserv
 e created in 1998\, which prohibited all industrial fishing in the second 
 largest marine reserve in the world. As a result\, the following week\, Ec
 uador was appointed the new President of the Marine Corridor of the Easter
 n Tropical Pacific\, a regional inter-governmental initiative for marine a
 nd coastal biodiversity conservation of the islands of Panama\, Costa Rica
 \, Colombia and Ecuador\; 4 out of these 5 island marine reserves are Worl
 d Heritage Sites. The initiative seeks to ensure regional conservation mea
 sures particularly important for the endangered pelagic species that depen
 d upon the marine corridor.\n
LOCATION:Large Seminar Room\, Level 1\, The David Attenborough Building
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR