Shifting Baselines Blog

6/21 - MPA 4: “Many people thought the Great Barrier Reef was already fully protected”

… explained biologist Sylvia Earle, an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., and former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "After all, terrestrial parks are not places where one expects to be allowed to cut trees, pick flowers, or kill the wildlife, and certainly not where large-scale commercial taking of the natural resources is considered normal."

Traditionally, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has been open to commercial and recreational fishing. BUT, as of July 1, 2004 monumental new legislation will ban all types of extraction in one-third of the park, making it the largest fully protected stretch of ocean in the world. GBR Marine Park, which shelters the largest living organism on earth, protects an area roughly the size of Japan.

This is wonderful news, but let’s put it in perspective. One-third of the park (approximately 43,000 square miles) is 0.03 percent of the 1.4 million square miles of ocean that exist on this planet. Worldwide, less than 1 percent of the ocean is protected compared to more than 12 percent of the land! What’s up with that?

Photo credits: David Doubilet, National Geographic Society

Posted by Amy at June 21, 2004 08:05 AM