January 12th, 1998
WWF has played an important role in marine conservation around the
world for over 30 years. In addition to its major initiative, the Endangered
Seas Campaign, to end chronic overfishing, WWF is involved with over
50 projects to establish and effectively manage marine parks and
reserves and many programmes to protect populations of endangered
marine species such as whales and turtles. WWF also plays an
important role at both international and national levels, influencing policies
on marine resource management, and promoting the adoption and
implementation of important global agreements to safeguard the future of
the world's oceans. The following are just a few examples of
successful achievements, attributable to both WWF and its many national
and international partner organisations.
Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary
The campaign to help achieve the IWC's (International Whaling
Commission) declaration of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which
covers virtually the whole of the Southern Ocean, is one of WWF's
greatest marine success stories. First proposed by the Government of
France in 1992, it was adopted only two years later, largely as a result
of vigorous campaigning by WWF and other large environmental
organizations. The Sanctuary is crucial in ensuring the recovery of the
whale populations that were originally the most abundant in the world,
and had suffered most from whaling. The sperm whales and most of the
Southern Hemisphere baleen whales migrate to the Southern Ocean
around Antarctica to feed in summer. Through the establishment of the
Sanctuary, large-scale whaling should be ended for ever.
Contact: Cassandra Phillips, WWF International.
Photos: WWF International
Marine Parks in the Caribbean
The islands of Bonaire and Saba, in the Dutch Antilles, are famous for
their almost pristine coral reefs which are among the most diverse in the
region, attracting thousands of SCUBA divers each year. WWF
Netherlands has played a major role in the establishment and
management of both the Bonaire and Saba Marine Parks, and these are
now considered as models and emulated in many other parts of the
world. Both parks have developed innovative financing mechanisms,
whereby visitors contribute to the management of the parks by paying a
donation. WWF is continuing its work on the islands, by supporting the
activities of local conservation organisations.
Contact: Janien van Rossum, WWF Netherlands.
Photos: WWF Netherlands and WWF International
Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, Hong Kong
WWF Hong Kong has been actively involved in the establishment of Hong
Kong's first marine parks since 1988. Hoi Ha Wan together with another
three areas (Yan Chau Tong, Cape d'Aguilar and Sha Chau/Lung Kwu
Chau) were finally designated as Marine Parks and Reserves in 1996
after almost 9 years of hard-work in site selection and government
lobbying. Hoi Ha Wan is of great ecological importance and high biological
diversity, over 30 species of corals having been identified within this
small sheltered bay which also includes mangroves, a sandy beach, and
rocky shores. WWF HK is planning to construct a Marine Life Education
Centre here to increase public awareness of the importance of marine
conservation. The proposed Centre will be managed by WWF HK and will
complement the work of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department in
managing the Park.
Contact: Carmen Lee, WWF HK.
Photos: WWF Hong Kong
Menai Bay Marine Conservation Area, Zanzibar
Menai Bay, in the south west of Zanzibar, is a traditional fishing ground
for visiting and resident fishermen. In the early nineties, increased
pressure coupled with illegal fishing practices such as dynamite and
*Kigumo* (fishing by encircling coral reef with a net and knocking the
corals to scare the fish out) became prominent environmental problems.
In response, the local community formed an informal management
committee, developed a management plan, and initiated a surveillance
programme. However, problems arose due to the lack of legal recognition
of their operations. Since 1995, the WWF Tanzania Programme Office
has been working closely with the Zanzibar government and all the local
stakeholders to establish the Menai Bay Conservation Area. WWF has
helped to train fisheries staff in communication skills and working with
local communities, has assisted with the formation of village communities,
identified with the village communities the key points to be covered
through the management scheme, and purchased radios for better
communication around the project area. Menai Bay Conservation Area
was subsequently gazetted in August 1997, covering an area of 470 sq.
km.
Contact: Winley Sichone or Lucy Kashaija, WWF Tanzania Programme Office
Photos: WWF International and WWF Tanzania
Protecting marine turtles in the Mediterranean
WWF-Greece has played a key role in the protection of the
Mediterranean population of the loggerhead turtle, one of seven globally
endangered marine turtles. One in every five loggerheads in the
Mediterranean lays its eggs on beaches in Laganas Bay, on the island of
Zakynthos. Uncontrolled tourism development in the 1980s presented
unsurmountable problems for nesting female turtles which, frightened by
noise, lights and human activity, began to cease returning to this area. In
1994, WWF-Greece purchased 32 ha of the land surrounding Sekania,
the most important beach, to provide a haven for the loggerheads, where
up to 2000 nests may be found per kilometre. Supported by the
European Union and the public in Greece, Austria, Switzerland and the
Netherlands, through a massive public awareness and fundraising
campaign, WWF has compensated local landowners in order to protect
the beach. Work is underway now to develop appropriate coastal
management practices in the area and to expand the protection of all
nesting beaches in the region, through the establishment of the National
Marine Park of Zakynthos.
Contact: Themistoklis Sbarounis, WWF-Greece
Photos: WWF International and WWF Greece
Conservation of Albatrosses
The main threat to albatrosses, the flying giants of the ocean waves, is
long lining. This is the fishing method which uses baited hooks on lines
that extend out for kilometres behind the fishing boats. The birds are
attracted to the bait, and huge numbers have been caught on the hooks
and drowned. WWF has helped to bring in a range of measures to
eliminate this by-catch problem. In Australia, WWF lobbied successfully
to have albatrosses listed under the Commonwealth Endangered Species
Act, which requires the government to prepare a Threat Abatement Plan
to address by catch, and to develop a Recovery Plan for the Macquarie
Island Wandering Albatross colony. These activities are now in their
final stages.
Contact: Margaret Moore, WWF-Australia.
Photos: WWF International
Averting the chemical threat to the oceans
Wildlife - and humans - are exposed daily to synthetic chemical
compounds, that even in small doses, disrupt development of the
reproductive, immune, nervous and endocrine systems. These
endocrine disruptors constitute a major threat, and marine mammals and
other aquatic wildlife may be most at risk. The oceans are the ultimate
sink for toxic pollution. There is good evidence for seals in the North Sea
that their heavy load of contaminants is linked to their high levels of
immuno-deficiency and reproductive failure. The endangered beluga
whales of the St Lawrence estuary in Canada are among the most
contaminated animals on earth, with tumours, reproductive problems and
heavy metal poisoning. Following publication of the book Our Stolen
Future, by WWF-US Senior Scientist Theo Colborn, WWF has been
campaigning worldwide to phase-out the use of toxic chemicals. It is
playing a major role in the development of an international legally-binding
instrument to regulate the use of certain chemicals and has lobbied
successfully for the inclusion of many in the list of hazardous
substances covered by the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the
Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.
Contact: Elizabeth Salter, WWF-UK, Stephan Lutter, WWF North-East
Atlantic Programme, c/o WWF-Germany