Archived News Items

August 2010:

• Monthly Myth: Marine Conservation Agreements are too small and isolated
• Coral Triangle/Indonesia MCA Analysis Findings and Recommendations are now available.
• The Tetepare Descendants’ Association in the Solomon Islands manages a protected area and conserves sea turtles through informal incentive-based agreements with local villagers.

July 2010:

• Monthly Myth: Using Marine Conservation Agreements to protect ocean and coastal biodiversity is a new strategy.
• Coral Triangle/Indonesia MCA Analysis Interim Findings and Recommendations are now available:
• Two new publications on MCAs are now available:
  » Incentive-based approaches in marine conservation: Applications for sea turtles
  » Conservation Incentive Agreements: Lessons and best practices from a review of ten case studies

June 2010:

• Monthly Myth: Conservation is an unproductive use of ocean and coastal lands and resources.
• Coral Triangle/Indonesia MCA Analysis Interim Findings and Recommendations are now available.
• Africa MCA analysis to begin in June 2010. For more information contact Steve Rocliffe.

May 2010:

• Monthly Myth: Lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters are already protected.
• WiLDCOAST helps obtain the largest private land conservation agreement in North America to protect key coastal ecosystems in Baja California.
• Africa MCA analysis to begin in June 2010. For more information contact Steve Rocliffe.

April 2010:

• Monthly Myth: All lands and resources lying within ocean and coastal waters are publicly-owned.
• Local fishing cooperative in Baja California established a voluntary marine reserve in formal agreement with COBI.
• Africa MCA analysis to begin in June 2010. For more information contact Steve Rocliffe

March 2010:

• Myth of the Month: You can’t buy the ocean!
• Expedition reports that the Vaquita project funding is uncertain.
• Sandals Resort company helps designate private MPA in Jamaica; has plans for more through Caribbean.
• Project launched: Nationwide comparative analysis of U.S. ocean coast states’ spatial marine cadastre data.

February 2010:

• The Mississippi-Alabama Habitats Tool was just released by the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. The online mapping tool identifies priority areas for protection within coastal and estuarine environments and provides parcel information associated with those priorities for Mobile Bay, Alabama.
• Private Shellfish Grounds in Connecticut: An Assessment of Law, Policy and Practice was just released by The Nature Conservancy. The report assesses the opportunity for private organizations to acquire rights to shellfish grounds on submerged lands under coastal town jurisdiction.
• Reef Guardians (a local nonprofit) and the Lankayan Island Dive Resort have partnered with the Government of Malaysia to manage the 46,000-hectare Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area. Tourism fees help create a sustainable funding stream for management activities.

January 2010: Operation Wallacea Trust is working with fishermen and the local government on Kaledupa Island, within the Wakatobi Marine National Park, to develop a management system for local fisheries and a buy-out program of excess fishing permits. For more information, see the Kaledupa Fisheries Project.

December 2009: The Gili Eco Trust in Indonesia is using funds from diving fees and a formal agreement with local fishermen to restore coral reefs and stop destructive fishing techniques. For more information, see the Gili Eco Trust website.

November 2009: Is conservation a “use” of the marine environment that should be recognized, planned for, and, in some cases, the primary purpose of a lease? Of course it is. Find out more by watching the Submerged Lands Conference presentation on Water-dependent Uses (Windows systems only), and by reading a recent issue of the Marine Ecosystems and Management Newsletter.

October 2009:

• Australia's Conservation Agreement Program allows private owners of freehold land, private lessees of Crown land and local councils to protect critical habitats, threatened species and ecological communities.
• North Carolina's Conservation Agreement Manual explains how private landowners can protect coastal beaches through agreements with conservation organizations or public agencies.
• A PERC study adapts the concept of conservation easements to marine environments and explores how they can achieve conservation goals.
• The Nature Conservancy in Maine is working with partners and fishermen to establish agreements that allow the purchase of fishing permits for conservation purposes.

September 2009:

• The Nature Conservancy launches MCA feasibility analyses in the Coral Triangle, Eastern Tropical Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf of California. For more information, see the project overview or contact Jay Udelhoven at: judelhoven@tnc.org
• NaturalEquity releases its Oceania Project Prospectus which proposes developing a network of MCAs in Micronesia to protect coral reefs and enhance human well-being. For more information, see the project prospectus or visit NaturalEquity.

August 2009:

• The Nature Conservancy recently acquired fee-simple ownership of a 43-acre pocket estuary and mature shoreline forest within Puget Sound in Washington State, U.S.A. The parcel adds to 7,000 acres of tidelands already protected by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust and the Conservancy in Port Susan Bay. Read more…
• The Nature Conservancy just received a grant from the Walton Family Foundation to undertake feasibility analyses for Marine Conservation Agreements in the Coral Triangle, Eastern Tropical Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf of California. For more information, access the project proposal or contact Jay Udelhoven at: judelhoven@tnc.org

July 2009:

• Conservation International would like input on draft research findings. For more information, download the discussion paper Incentives in Marine Conservation Approaches: Comparing buyouts, incentive agreements, and alternative livelihoods (pdf, 164k).
• USAID has just released Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners (pdf, 5,442k) which provides a detailed treatment of climate concerns and adaptation options in coastal areas, including Marine Conservation Agreements.

June 2009: Are you aware of MCA field projects that should be included in the inventory? Do you know of research that should be included in Country Analyses? Do you have other information to contribute? Review this new version of the MCA Toolkit and send comments regarding the content or functionality along with your postal address to mcatoolkit@tnc.org. If you're among the first 15 people to contribute, we'll send you a free organic MCA Workshop nightshirt (one size fits all).

May 2009: Welcome to this new version of the MCA Toolkit, which will be introduced at the International Marine Conservation Congress May 19th - 24th in Washington, D.C. We invite you to explore the new site, which includes a downloadable practitioner's field guide, expanded case studies, new legal analyses and an inventory of MCA field projects.

April 2009: The following information regarding the valuation and management of submerged lands may be helpful to organizations contemplating projects in the marine environment:

• The Market Valuation of Submerged Lands
• Estimating rental value for submerged lands sites using a model-ratio technique
• 2008 Audit findings for Washington state submerged lands management: Report #1; Report #2
• 2007 Marine Leasing Assessment for South Carolina's Submerged Lands (1,765k)
• 2000 Submerged Lands Survey (490k)
• 1996 South Carolina Submerged Lands Leasing Study (954k)

U.S. Acts to Alter New England Fisheries — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is taking preliminary steps toward privatizing fisheries in New England.

Creating Marine Assets: Property Rights in Ocean Fisheries — PERC Policy Series article considers how economic incentives and property rights can solve the fisheries problem.

March 2009: New resources help organizations understand and protect the marine environment with MCAs.

• Articulate ecosystem services and values that MCAs can protect in tropical areas of the world with the
  Economic Value of Coral Reefs, Mangroves and Seagrass Guide.
• Determine marine boundaries of the U.S. outer continental shelf and state waters with the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre.
• Locate U.S. ocean and coastal laws with the Digital Coast Legislative Atlas.
• Access vector shoreline data generated by U.S. federal agencies from the NOAA Shoreline Website.

February 2009: NaturalEquity is a non-profit organization established in-part to further conservation agreements in the marine environment. To read more, see their website.

January 2009:

• The Nature Conservancy's Washington State Chapter recently purchased a 146-acre coastline parcel, including 40 acres of intertidal lands. For more information see The Bellingham Herald's news article and photo.
• The Catalan Nature Stewardship Network is developing a programmatic approach to conservation agreements in Spain. For more information, see their new homepage (in Catalan only and still under development at this time).
• Presentations from the 2008 International Submerged Lands Management Conference are now available from the conference website.

November 2008:

• Shellfish restoration is now being undertaken on Audubon's intertidal property in Massachusetts. For more information see the Boston Globe article.
• Marine Conservation Agreements were recently featured in MPA News Perspectives.

September 2008:

• Workshop proceedings now available: Updated information regarding the recent workshop on Private Marine Conservation Agreements, including the full Proceedings, is now available.
• Land rights reach into the sea: Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory have been extended to the sea for the first time in a landmark High Court ruling that gives traditional owners in northeast Arnhem Land control over fishing in tidal waters. Read more...

August 2008:

• Several new summary case studies have been added to the Leasing and Ownership Toolkit. The new case studies will be expanded upon in September.
• Information regarding the recent workshop on Private Marine Conservation Agreements is available on the Leasing and Ownership toolkit.

July 2008: Conservation International (CI) has recently released a draft of Conservation Incentive Agreements: An Introduction and Lessons Learned to Date. Comments to CI are welcome at: e.niesten @ conservation.org

June 2008: Ceres and the Heinz Center announced the launch of the Resilient Coasts Initiative, a first-of-its-kind collaboration of private and public sector groups to find public policy and private market solutions to better protect coastal communities from rising sea levels and other potentially damaging consequences of climate change. For more information, see the News Release.

May 2008: Volunteers are needed for the world's largest seagrass restoration project at the Virginia Coast Reserve. For more information, download the flyer (pdf, 855k).

April 2008: The Kiribati Government recently established regulations for the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, the largest MPA in the world. The establishment of the MPA was facilitated by conservation agreements with the New England Aquarium and Conservation International. For more information, see the news release.

March 2008:

• Read Sea Greens in the Nature Conservancy Magazine to learn how scientists use leasing along California's coast to undertake research.
• Read Rent-a-tree in the Economist to learn how Conservation International is protecting the environment through leasing.