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Vol. 10 (2): November 2007



Balearic Islands renews TMG support


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The Monachus Guardian is pleased to announce that the Government of the Balearic Islands, Spain, has decided to renew its financial support of the journal and website for another year. This modest but important grant will help us continue reporting news and opinion about monk seal and marine conservation issues from across the current and former range of the species.

The grant, together with the indispensable translation efforts of Toni Font, consultant to the Balearic Islands Government, also permitted a Spanish version of the journal to be published in 2006. This marked a “first” for the Guardian, and also helped bring the plight of the monk seals and their threatened habitats to an even wider international audience.

With the renewed grant, a Spanish language version of the 2007 TMG editions will appear shortly.

The Spanish translation can be accessed at http://www.monachus-guardian.org/spanish, or through TMG’s home page via the linked flag.

Anyone wishing to discuss the possibilities of arranging or funding translations into other languages (for instance, Arabic, Greek, Turkish) is kindly requested to contact the .


Agreement might save the Mediterranean monk seal, claims CMS


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Adeje, Tenerife, Spain, 18 October 2007 — A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the protection of the Eastern Atlantic Populations of the Mediterranean monk seal was concluded under the auspices of CMS [reports the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals].

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Republic of Portugal and the Kingdom of Spain signed the agreement in Adeje at the margins of the CMS meeting on Western African Talks on Cetaceans and their Habitats (WATCH). The agreement will be open for signature to all the Atlantic range states.

Since 1986, the populations of Mediterranean monk seals have been at the centre of the Mediterranean Action Plan of UNEP. The Mediterranean monk seal has also been a main focus of CMS conservation measures for marine mammals. The Mediterranean monk seal is one of the most threatened marine mammals in the world and is listed on the Appendices of the Convention. Only approximately 500 Mediterranean monk seals remain in the wild. Appendix I Iisting commits member states to ban seal hunting and capture and to conserve its habitat to counteract factors impeding migration. This includes surveying other threat factors as well as preventing disturbance to the species.

Monk seal populations play an important role in coastal and marine ecosystems. But natural phenomena and the development of human activities have significantly reduced them. The Eastern Atlantic Populations of the Mediterranean monk seal greatly suffer from entanglement and mortality in fishing gears, over fishing, hunting and human persecution, pollution, as well as from natural factors such as toxic phytoplankton. In addition, destruction of breeding sites and collapsing breeding caves further accelerate habitat loss. As a result of the alarming conservation status – no more than 500 seals remain in the Mediterranean and along the Eastern Atlantic coastline – IUCN has classified the species as Critically Endangered.

The species has disappeared from most of its distribution range, except for a few isolated groups. There are two breeding colonies of Mediterranean monk seal in the Eastern Atlantic: one on the Desertas Islands (Madeira) and the other on the Cabo Blanco Peninsula (Morocco-Mauritania). Since the colonies are probably isolated demographically and genetically with less than 200 seals each concentrated along a few kilometres of coastline, experts regard its status in the Atlantic as very critical.


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Over the last years, an Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eastern Atlantic monk seal was elaborated and finally approved at the Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CMS, held in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2005. CMS Executive Secretary Robert Hepworth said: “The Action Plan provides a new focus for cross-border monk seal conservation by identifying the obligations of the range states. It is the first time that monk seal conservation actions in the Atlantic region have been approached in a spirit of international co-operation. This instrument is a significant step towards improving the conservation status and the habitat of the Eastern Atlantic monk seal throughout its range in cooperation with the four signatory states.”

The Action Plan lays down the procedures to implement co-ordinated actions. It provides a means to combine programmes from different states, local and private organizations into efficient, co-ordinated efforts, which should lead to the recovery of the depleted population of the species. The immediate goal is to stop the decline and, in medium term, promote recovery.

The Action Plan will include measures to evaluate the status and threats to monk seals and increase monk seal populations. The main action is the creation of a Network of Special Areas of Conservation for the Monk Seal (SACMS) to help restore populations. Increased liaison and coordination between the Barcelona Convention and CMS is expected to promote the conservation of the species.

CMS and its partners are looking forward to seeing recovery for the situation of the monk seal. The CMS Secretariat is confident that the new agreement will prevent the only pinniped in the Mediterranean from becoming extinct. – Moulay Lahcen El Kabiri, UNEP/CMS.

Further information

Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals (CMS). 2005. Action Plan for the Recovery of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) in the Eastern Atlantic. Prepared by the Working Group of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in the Eastern Atlantic for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention): 1-104. [PDF pdf 3.9 MB]


Publications Watch

We take the opportunity of alerting our readers to the following publications, on protected area management and funding, and fisheries.


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Becker, N. and Y. Choresh. 2006. Economic Aspects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Ed: UNEP-MAP RAC/SPA, Tunis: 1-68. [PDF pdf 1.7 MB]

“Marine Protected Areas are subject to conflicting uses,” the authors write. “As such, decision making analysis with respect to their management should be made on a sound base. This book was devoted to introduce the reader to the concept of economics, how it is implemented to natural resources management and especially how it could be applied to MPAs.”


E.C. 2007. Guidelines for the establishment of the Natura 2000 network in the marine environment. Application of the Habitats and Birds Directives. European Commission – Environment: 1-112 + appendices. [PDF pdf 1.7 MB]

“The need to fully apply the Habitats and Birds Directives to the offshore marine environment of the European Union, especially with regards to the establishment of the Natura 2000 network, represents a key challenge for EU biodiversity policy in the coming years.

The establishment of a marine network of conservation areas under Natura 2000 will significantly contribute, not only to the target of halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU, but also to broader marine conservation and sustainable use objectives.  

To date there have been relatively few Natura 2000 sites identified for the offshore marine environment and this represents the most significant gap in the Natura network.”

Appendices and related information at EUROPA  > European Commission > Environment > Nature & Biodiversity.



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FAO. 2007-. Marine Protected Areas as a tool for fisheries management (MPAs).

“This web site is part of the programme implemented by FAO for a better understanding of the contribution of MPAs to fisheries management, and the identification and promotion of best practices and integrated approaches to MPAs. A set of current issues regarding the use of MPAs as a tool for fisheries management is introduced, including links to external internet resources of interest. A specific section presents the guidelines being prepared by FAO, on the design, implementation and testing of MPAs.”



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MedPAN. 2007. Map of Mediterranean MPAs. MedPAN – The Network of Managers of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean, http://www.medpan.org. [PDF pdf 792 KB]

This poster, produced by the Office de l'Environnement of Corsica, delineates some 93 marine protected areas that currently exist in the Mediterranean, from the Straits of Gibraltar in the west to Syria in the east. The key presents MPAs by country, listing dimensions in hectares.

 

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All Creatures great, small and disappearing

Ever caught a glimpse of the secretive Iberian lynx? Or heard the croaking bark of a Mediterranean monk seal? If not, and you want to do so, you had better hurry because pollution and habitat degradation have pushed both species to the brink of extinction.

According to a recent study by the Switzerland-based World Conservation Union (IUCN) human activity is threatening 15 percent, or almost one-sixth of Europe's total land mammal population. Among marine mammals the situation is even more grave, with some 22 percent of total numbers being inexorably pushed towards annihilation.

The IUCN's recently published European Mammal Assessment identified 17 European mammal species that are "vulnerable," seven that are "endangered" and six that are "critically endangered."

The Mediterranean monk seal population, for example, has now dwindled to just 350-450 individuals…

“This new assessment proves that many European mammals are declining at an alarming rate,” says IUCN Director-General Julia Marton-Lefèvre, a position echoed by the EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

“The results of the report highlight the challenge we currently face to halt the loss of Europe's biodiversity,” said Dimas. “It is clear that the full implementation of the Habitats Directive (adopted by the EU in 1992 to safeguard Europe's endangered wildlife) is of the utmost importance to protect Europe's native mammals...”


All creatures great, small and disappearing, CNN.com Science and Space, June 12, 2007.



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