Marine Protected Area Design for the North Pacific Coast, Canada

Marine spatial planning is underway in British Columbia at multiple scales, involving several levels of government, and for many marine objectives or issues. The Marine Planning Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) is a collaborative planning process for coastal and marine areas on the Pacific Coast of Canada. MaPP is a co-led partnership between the Province of British Columbia and First Nations governments, represented by the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, the North Coast-Skeena First Nations Stewardship Society and the Nanwakolas Council. Marine plans are being developed for four sub-regions in the study area - Haida Gwaii, North Coast, Central Coast and Northern Vancouver Island. MaPP is using an ecosystem-based management framework to develop candidate marine protected areas and recommendations for a National Marine Protected Area Implementation Team (MPAIT). Building on work done by the British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis (BCMCA) from 2006-2012, MaPP is collaborating with BCMCA to identify high priority conservation areas in the MaPP study area using Marxan. To date, the project has developed five scenarios using ecological targets ranging from 10-60% for nearly 275 features. In addition, human uses and activities were included to address relative social and economic costs of implementing protected areas, as well as threats to ecological integrity. In this presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the planning process, discuss the process of using Marxan to identify high priority conservation areas and discuss spatial results and implications