Emerging and unresolved issues: the example of marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction - Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century - page 340

9.4.3 Sustainable management through area-based management tools
With regard to the conservation of marine genetic diversity, area-based management tools
such as marine protected areas, fisheries closures, and special areas, can play an important
role in the conservation and sustainable use of the resources, which are host to valuable
genes (van Dover et al ., 2012 ). The development of networks of MPAs was called for at
the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. At the Rio+20 Conference, states
reaffirmed the importance of area-based conservation measures, including marine protected
areas, consistent with international law and based on best available scientific information, as
a tool for conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of its components (United
Nations, 2012c ). Area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, are some-
times perceived as an impediment to the freedom of the high seas, including navigation,
fishing, and scientific research. Yet such tools, which do not necessarily imply that all activ-
ities are banned from taking place in a given area, also present opportunities as frameworks
for strengthened cross-sectoral cooperation and the management of potential user conflicts.
Recent efforts towards the establishment of cross-sectoral MPAs include the establish-
ment of six MPAs in areas beyond national jurisdiction in the OSPAR maritime area (Salpin
and Germani, 2010 ) , with attempts to involve other competent international organizations,
including the International Seabed Authority, the International Maritime Organization, and
relevant regional fisheries management organizations. There are also proposals for reserves
for chemosynthetic ecosystems in the context of the ISA (ISA, 2011 ) . The Sargasso Sea Al-
liance, a public-private partnership led by the government of Bermuda, aims, inter alia, at
using existing regional, sectoral, and international organizations to secure a range of pro-
tective measures, including marine protected areas, for all or parts of the Sargasso Sea. The
Sargasso Sea is host to floating mats of Sargassum seaweed which provide a habitat to many
endemic species and are also being researched for their potential in various industrial, med-
ical, and nutritional uses, including applications focused on inhibiting HIV infection, antibi-
otics, antifungals, and antifouling substances (Laffoley et al ., 2011 ) .