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Tomislav Skračić, MA Undergraduate English Course for MARITIME MANAGERS 5th Semester Essential reading: T. Skračić, Waypoint – English Textbook for Maritime Students, Faculty of Maritime Studies, Split 2010, Units 22-28 T. Trappe & G. Tullis, Intelligent Business, Longman 2005, Units 12-14 To date, few nations have committed to developing and implementing comprehensive conservation programs aimed at protecting marine ecosystems and the species they support. Scientists agree that general measures to address threats to marine ecosystems should include: - defining sustainable levels of resource use, - defining critical areas, - using zoning to resolve user conflicts, - establishing MPAs, - integrating management and avoiding balkanization. Sustainable use of resources. Sustainable use never implies a constant, unchangeable rate of harvest. Instead, the very essence of sustainability is its adaptability. This requirement for flexibility again means that critical processes must be understood, that the ecosystem's responses must be taken into consideration and that the results of management must be continuously monitored. It also means that the best coastal management is that which is fine-tuned to local conditions, both in terms of ecosystem requirements and human needs. Such fine-tuning implies that management of human activity may be most effective when practiced on local scales. Defining critical areas. Critical processes in nearshore ecosystems are often concentrated in areas that can be easily defined by physical parameters such as archipelagos, shallow areas, continental shelf breaks, etc. These areas and the critical processes they support, such as fish spawning, migratory pathways, breeding, feeding, etc., can be effectively protected at relatively low direct cost, through marine protected areas (MPAs). Zoning. Conflicts between users of marine resources increase with growing human population in coastal areas and growing access to marine resources and space. Users compete among themselves for the same stock of resources. For instance, fisheries utilising dragged gear (purse seines, trawls, etc.) conflict with fisheries using fixed gear (weirs, fish pars, etc.). Coastal tourism development conflicts with industrial or port development, and all these activities can bring local communities into conflict with development agencies. Zoning could be an efficient tool to reduce such user conflicts. Stewardship in MPAs (marine protected areas) Any nation wishing to derive maximum benefit from its natural heritage should develop marine protected areas for the purpose of conserving marine biological diversity. Planning may be made by national government, but users of the resources should be involved to make the process more effective. The user groups should not be thought of as the recipients of a plan or the objects of regulation, but rather as partners with government who can share the burden of responsibility for both planning and implementation of conservation measures. For this reason, coastal communities and other users of marine resources and ocean space should be brought into the planning process right from the start. Adapted and integrated management. An environmental issue, such as an oil spill, may affect marine life, traffic, tourism, fisheries, and other industries at the same time. When such a problem occurs there is no time to dispute who is in charge and who is not. Activities of relevant ministries, agencies, institutions, and organisations should be integrated and harmonised, and the balkanization of responsibility should be avoided by all means. 1. Answer the following questions: a) b) c) d) Why is proactive planning better than addressing symptoms? What do you think a marine protected area is? Name some general measures to address threats to marine ecosystems. Explain why local people and coastal communities should be brought into the planning process right from the start. 1. Answer the following questions: e) f) g) h) i) No one consulted local people when Mljet and Kornati were declared national parks. Why? Why is it important to identify areas that are critical to ecosystem? Using zoning is an efficient tool to reduce user conflicts. Explain. What is integrated coastal management? What do you think balkanization in coastal management is? 2. Translate into English: a) Nekontrolirana urbanizacija je glavni (major) uzrok atmosferskog zagađivanja. b) Obuka zapovjednika brodova i časnika palube bitno će smanjiti opasnosti (perils) i krizne situacije (crisis situations) izazvane ispuštanjem balastnih voda ili oštećenjem tankera, kao i krizne situacije s putničkim brodovima. c) Obalni razvoj utječe na (impacts) morske ekosustave i njihovu bioraznolikost na izravan i neizravan način. d) Obalni (coastal) inženjerski projekti mogu dramatično izmijeniti uzobalnu hidrodinamiku (alter nearshore hydrodynamics) koja je od bitne važnosti za održanje (maintaining) bioraznolikosti i produktivnosti obalnih sustava.