Effective marine biodiversity conservation is dependent upon a clear scientific rationale for practical interventions. This book is intended to provide knowledge and tools for marine conservation practitioners and to identify issues and mechanisms for upper-level undergraduate and Masters students. It also provides sound guidance for marine biology field course work and professionals. The main focus is on benthic species living on or in the seabed and immediately above, rather than on commercial fisheries or highly mobile vertebrates. Such species, including algae and invertebrates, are fundamental to a stable and sustainable marine ecosystem. The book is a practical guide based on a clear exposition of the principles of marine ecology and species biology to demonstrate how marine conservation issues and mechanisms have been tackled worldwide and especially the criteria, structures and decision trees that practitioners and managers will find useful. Well illustrated with conceptual diagrams and flow charts, the book includes case study examples from both temperate and tropical marine environments.

Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, or a “balance of nature,” reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past three decades, “resilience theory,” which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has shown itself to be a robust and invaluable basis for sound environmental management. Reforming American law to account for this knowledge is key to transitioning to sustainability. This volume features top legal and resilience scholars speaking on resilience theory and its legal applications to climate change, biodiversity, national parks, and water law.

In this innovative volume, the author addresses some important challenges related to the effective and equitable governance of marine protected areas (MPAs). These challenges are explored through a study of 20 MPA case studies from around the world. A novel governance analysis framework is employed to address some key questions: How can top-down and bottom-up approaches to MPA governance be combined? What does this mean, in reality, in different contexts? How can we develop and implement governance approaches that are both effective in achieving conservation objectives and equitable in fairly sharing associated costs and benefits? The author explores the many issues that these questions raise, as well as exploring options for addressing them. A key theme is that MPA governance needs to combine people, state and market approaches, rather than being based on one approach and its related ideals. Building on a critique of the governance analysis framework developed for common-pool resources, the author puts forward a more holistic and less prescriptive framework for deconstructing and analyzing the governance of MPAs. This inter-disciplinary analysis is aimed at supporting the development of MPA governance approaches that build social-ecological resilience through both institutional and biological diversity. It will also make a significant contribution to wider debates on natural resource governance, as it poses some critical questions for contemporary approaches to related research and offers an alternative theoretical and empirical approach.

This timely Research Handbook explores the concept of polar law as a coherent body of law and as a set of rules and principles that applies to both the Arctic and Antarctic. It captures the evolution of polar law and policy, identifying future directions for research in this emerging and growing field.

Marine Mammal Conservation and the Law of the Sea lays out and critiques the marine mammal regulatory landscape. It introduces the rational conservation model, and details the modern threats to marine mammals, including climate change, by-catch, environmental pollution, ship strikes. Next, it discusses options for reform under UNCLOS and existing treaties, and finally introduces a new holistic treaty regime based on the rational conversation model, based in part on the UN Fish Stocks Agreement.

"This publication provides a much needed and timely tool to assist us in our collective effort to find new and better solutions to address the various threats to our marine biological diversity and productivity. It provides evidence-based recommendations on improving and accelerating actions on delivering ocean protection and management through marine protected areas and facilitates the sharing of experiences and lessons learned"--Page 4.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state, with more than 18,000 islands and over 7.9 million square kilometres of sea. The marine frontier presents the nation with both economic opportunities and political and strategic challenges. Indonesia has been affected more than most countries in the world by a slow revolution in the management of its waters. Whereas Indonesia’s seas were once conceived administratively as little more than the empty space between islands, successive governments have become aware that this view is outmoded. The effective transfer to the seas of regulatory regimes that took shape on land, such as territoriality, has been an enduring challenge to Indonesian governments. This book addresses issues related to maritime boundaries and security, marine safety, inter-island shipping, the development of the archipelagic concept in international law, marine conservation, illegal fishing, and the place of the sea in national and regional identity.

The notion of Malaysia as a maritime nation is not new. As a coastal state surrounded by significant bodies of water, Malaysia exhibits many characteristics of a maritime nation where peace, economic stability, and security are priorities in its rise and development. This book discusses Malaysia's aspiration of a maritime nation. It features various aspects of maritime sectors and will conclusively embark on a journey that would shape and rekindle interest in the concept of Malaysia as a maritime nation through literature, discussion, and research. TABLE OF CONTENTS - Message from the Minister of Transport Malaysia - Foreword by the Chairman, Maritime Institute of Malaysia - Acknowledgements - Making Malaysia a Credible Sea Power - Introduction: Shaping Malaysia into a Maritime Nation - Chapter 1: The Evolution of Malaysia’s Maritime Aspirations - Chapter 2: Malaysia’s Maritime Realm: The Geostrategic Imperatives - Chapter 3: Maritime Security Threats: Issues and Challenges in Malaysia's Maritime Domain - Chapter 4: Marine Geodetic Infrastructures: Building Blocks of a Maritime Nation - Chapter 5: The Development of The Maritime Transportation Industry in Malaysia - Chapter 6: Marine Tourism in Malaysia: Prospects and Challenges - Chapter 7: Malaysian Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (SBSR) - Chapter 8: Challenges and Opportunities for Malaysian Seafarers - Chapter 9: Conservation and Sustainable Management of Marine Living Resources and the Environment: A National Perspective - Chapter 10: The Socio-cultural Aspects of Maritime Malaysia - Chapter 11: Safeguarding Malaysia’s Underwater Cultural Heritage: The Legal Framework - Chapter 12: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: The Southeast Asian Development - Chapter 13: Malaysia: Reinforcing its Pivotal Role in the International Maritime Community - Chapter 14: The Role of The Marine Department Malaysia in Ensuring Safe and Secure Navigation - Chapter 15: Malaysia’s Reform Agenda and its Role in Ocean and Maritime Governance - Conclusion: Maritime Malaysia: Building on the Past, Charting the Future - Index

Conservation for the Anthropocene Ocean: Interdisciplinary Science in Support of Nature and People emphasizes strategies to better connect the practice of marine conservation with the needs and priorities of a growing global human population. It conceptualizes nature and people as part of shared ecosystems, with interdisciplinary methodologies and science-based applications for coupled sustainability. A central challenge facing conservation is the development of practical means for addressing the interconnectedness of ecosystem health and human well-being, advancing the fundamental interdisciplinary science that underlies conservation practice, and implementing this science in decisions to manage, preserve, and restore ocean ecosystems. Though humans have intentionally and unintentionally reshaped their environments for thousands of years, the scale and scope of human influence upon the oceans in the Anthropocene is unprecedented. Ocean science has increased our knowledge of the threats and impacts to ecological integrity, yet the unique scale and scope of changes increases uncertainty about responses of dynamic socio-ecological systems. Thus, to understand and protect the biodiversity of the ocean and ameliorate the negative impacts of ocean change on people, it is critical to understand human beliefs, values, behaviors, and impacts. Conversely, on a human-dominated planet, it is impossible to understand and address human well-being and chart a course for sustainable use of the oceans without understanding the implications of environmental change for human societies that depend on marine ecosystems and resources. This work therefore presents a timely, needed, and interdisciplinary approach to the conservation of our oceans. Helps marine conservation scientists apply principles from oceanography, ecology, anthropology, economics, political science, and other natural and social sciences to manage and preserve marine biodiversity Facilitates understanding of how and why social and environmental processes are coupled in the quest to achieve healthy and sustainable oceans Uses a combination of expository material, practical approaches, and forward-looking theoretical discussions to enhance value for readers as they consider conservation research, management and planning