The Ratio Of Marine Protected Areas To The Sea Areas Adjacent To Taiwan

Original indicator name: the ratio of Marine Protected Areas to the areas of adjacent territorial sea

Themes

Marine Protected Areas

PSBR model type

Response(R)

Corresponding targets

SDGs

14.5.1 The proportion of Marine Protected Areas in Taiwan's marine areas. Quantitative target for 2020: Marine Protected Areas accounts for 47.8% of Taiwan's marine area within 12-nautical mile.

Aichi Biodiversity Targets:

Target 11 By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

Background

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are protected areas of oceans, seas, estuaries, or great lake regions whose natural or cultural resources are usually protected through restricting human activities in a specific form. The definition of Marine Protected Areas of Taiwanese government, according to the official website of the Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture, is “areas within a certain range of the average high-water mark extending to the sea, with special natural landscapes, important cultural heritages, and sustainable ecological resources, etc., which must be protected and managed by law or other effective ways"

Definition and Calculation

1. There are many legal sources for Taiwan's marine protected areas, and the degree of protection is also different. The scope of the calculation (for example, only include the most protected Marine Protected Areas) must be specified before sum up the eligible Marine Protected Areas and deduct the overlapping areas.
2. Due to the special international status of Taiwan, it is not possible to publish the area of the economic sea area within 200 nautical miles. If using the territorial waters within 12 nautical miles as the denominator, it is not comparable with data from other countries. The conclusion of a meeting held at the Ocean Conservation Administration on November 19, 2019 suggested that the denominator should be changed to contiguous zone, from the territorial sea which includes internal waters.
3. There is still no data of the contiguous zone, therefore the Trends presented is the cumulative areas of Marine Protected Areas (km^2^).

Updates

According to the information on the website of the Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture, as of the end of December 2018, the total area of Taiwan’s Marine Protected Areas (excluding areas for certain fishing gear and fishing method, and specific fishery prohibited areas) , was 4495.5276 km^2^, and the Marine Protected Areas accounted for 6.908% of the total water area (the area of internal waters within 12 nautical mile of Taiwan offshore is 65,076.96 km^2^).

Data Management Authorities

Ocean Conservation Administration, Fisheries Agency, National Park Headquarters, Forestry Bureau, Tourism Bureau, Ministry of the Interior

Data Source/URL

Taiwan’s Marine Protected Areas of “Fishery Resources” page on the website of Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture