As marine habitats and wildlife face increasing pressures from human impacts like pollution, overfishing, and climate change, MPAs – those areas where human activities are more strictly regulated than in surrounding waters to ensure marine ecosystems remain healthy – are increasingly important. MPAs are one of the key mechanisms to provide strong protection for marine biodiversity and as such, the government of Canada has committed to protecting 30 per cent of Canadian marine and coastal areas by 2030. However, until we have strong measures for shipping and other human activities in marine protected areas, those protections won’t safeguard wildlife and the habitats they depend on.
Shipping in Marine Protected Areas
A toolkit for reducing shipping impacts in marine protected areas
Reducing shipping impacts in marine protected areas
Canada’s existing marine protections do not adequately consider or mitigate the impacts of shipping, leaving marine life to contend with a number of stressors, including underwater noise, ship strikes, and vessel discharges, even in areas designated as protected.
Together, WWF-Canada, West Coast Environmental Law and East Coast Environmental Law have produced a toolkit to share the impacts of shipping in marine protected areas (MPAs) and identify the tools that MPA practitioners and shipping experts can use to reduce those impacts in Canada.
About MPAs
What WWF-Canada and partners are doing
There are two main reasons why most MPAs in Canada have not adequately addressed the risks posed by shipping. The first is that the science around shipping impacts on the marine environment is growing, and the second is that many practitioners require a better understanding of the complex legal and regulatory environment that exists for shipping in Canada.
To address these barriers, we have commissioned and conducted a number of reports which are included in this toolkit. From documenting the impacts of shipping on wildlife and habitats to outlining the legal framework for shipping in MPAs and analyzing the opportunities for using existing legal tools to reduce shipping impacts, to studying case studies on reducing shipping impacts in MPAs, the full reports and a quick reference guide are available in the toolkit below.
Related Toolkit Resources
- Quick Reference Guide
- Impacts of Shipping on Marine Birds
- Impacts of Shipping on Benthic Habitats
- Shipping Through Sea Ice: Impacts on Marine Habitats and Best Practices
- Mitigating Shipping Impacts on Cetaceans in Canada: Lessons Learned and Best Practices
- Navigating the Law: Reducing Shipping Impacts in Marine Protected Areas
- Shipping in Marine Protected Areas Toolkit Workshop Summary Report
- Reducing Impacts From Shipping in MPAs: Evaluating Tools for Monitoring And Compliance
- Reducing Impacts From Shipping in St. Anns Bank MPA: Atlantic Case Study
- Reducing Impacts From Shipping in Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area: Pacific Case Study
- Reducing Impacts From Shipping in the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area: Arctic Case Study
What You Can Do
Learn More about Our Ocean Work
It’s not too late to bring the ocean back to a state of health and resilience. We are working to change the tide, driving protection and sustainable management so the ocean has a vibrant future.