An identification of areas within the high seas of the Southern Ocean that would contribute to a representative system of marine protected areas

The Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has the primary responsibility for developing a representative system of marine protected areas (RSMPA) for the Southern Ocean. Under the CCAMLR marine protected area (MPA) work schedule, two important milestones for 2011 are the identification of candidate MPAs and the submission of MPA proposals to the CCAMLR Scientific Committee. However, the majority of the Southern Ocean has not undergone systematic conservation planning to identify potential areas for inclusion in a RSMPA. We address this gap in existing knowledge by identifying areas that would contribute to a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas. We focus our study where marine protected area planning is unlikely to be underway. We aim to identify a system of areas that will capture the set of specified conservation features within the study area including benthic ecoregions and environmental types, pelagic regions, rare features, vulnerable marine ecosystems and biological features. We then provide information that will enable CCAMLR’s MPA workshop and other CCAMLR forums to assess the importance of the areas identified to the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas for the Southern Ocean.The Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has the primary responsibility for developing a representative system of marine protected areas (RSMPA) for the Southern Ocean. Under the CCAMLR marine protected area (MPA) work schedule, two important milestones for 2011 are the identification of candidate MPAs and the submission of MPA proposals to the CCAMLR Scientific Committee. However, the majority of the Southern Ocean has not undergone systematic conservation planning to identify potential areas for inclusion in a RSMPA. We address this gap in existing knowledge by identifying areas that would contribute to a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas. We focus our study where marine protected area planning is unlikely to be underway. We aim to identify a system of areas that will capture the set of specified conservation features within the study area including benthic ecoregions and environmental types, pelagic regions, rare features, vulnerable marine ecosystems and biological features. We then provide information that will enable CCAMLR’s MPA workshop and other CCAMLR forums to assess the importance of the areas identified to the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas for the Southern Ocean.