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Symbol Package
An icon symbol of a buoy marking the boundary of a marine protected area.
Marine Access Limited
A marine protected area is a zone designated as a no-fishing or limited fishing or harvest area. This is a resource management practice that may be used when the marine resources are at risk due to human and natural activities such as over-fishing, habitat destruction, invasive species, and/or climate change.
Marine protected area
The queen conch is an important cultural and economic resource for Caribbean countries, but populations are in decline due primarily to overfishing and poaching.
Strombus gigas (Queen Conch)
Unsustainable development and overfishing threaten Belize's coral reefs.
Belize coral reefs in jeopardy
Tree roots are underminded by wave action and eventually succumb while the shoreline is eroded.
Eroded shoreline with tree snags
Stone rip-rap installed by the property owners in an attempt to prevent shoreline erosion. Hardened edges along the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers reduces natural shoreline habitat that fish and other marine animals depend on for food and shelter.
Hardened shoreline prevents erosion
Coastal wetlands that are protected from erosion have an adequate sediment supply to build upwards, and will likely be more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Coastal Wetlands Resilience to Climate Change…
Woods along the shoreline of Chesapeake Bay.
Woods along the shoreline
Woods along the shoreline of Chesapeake Bay.
Woods along the shoreline
Mangroves and oyster reefs at Pumpkin Bay in the Ten Thousand Islands, Florida.
Mangroves and oyster reefs
In Shenandoah National Park, electrical power lines cross through the park, and the area around them must be maintained and managed. While they are needed, they also bisect the natural areas of the park and can disturb wildlife. Shenandoah National Park, VA.
Power lines in Shenandoah
In Shenandoah National Park, electrical power lines cross through the park, and the area around them must be maintained and managed. While they are needed, they also bisect the natural areas of the park and can disturb wildlife. Shenandoah National Park, VA.
Power lines in Shenandoah
In Shenandoah National Park, electrical power lines cross through the park, and the area around them must be maintained and managed. While they are needed, they also bisect the natural areas of the park and can disturb wildlife. Shenandoah National Park, VA.
Power lines in Shenandoah
Conceptual diagram illustrating preparations for the effects of climate change: Elevating and moving houses and utilities away from flood plain boundaries make them less vulnerable to storms and may lower flood insurance rates. Rather than building a concrete levy to protect property, consider a natural shoreline that offers the same benefit.
Adaptation to Climate Change
Conceptual diagram illustrating preparations for the effects of climate change: In an area where all of the organisms are alike, it is possible to lose an entire population due to a single pest infestation. Landscape with a variety of native, drought-resistant plants to support biodiversity and resilient backyard communities.
Biodiversity for Climate Change
Natural fiber logs for sale at a local hardware store in Cambridge MD. These logs are designed to be used in constructing a natural
Fiber logs
What you can do to prepare for climate change diagram from
Prepare for climate change
Conceptual diagram illustrating a hardened shoreline vs a natural shoreline. The hardened shoreline has concrete rip-rap or a sea wall. It can be very costly and can also interrupt natural shoreline processes and sand movement that can lead to increased erosion downdrift from the structure. A natural shoreline incorporates native vegetation with a buffer strip of sand and/or fiber logs. It filters runoff and traps sediment, actually widening the beach, and providing valuable shoreline habitat for wildlife.
Shoreline erosion control
Highbush blueberry is one of the most important plants in the blueberry family. It is found around wetlands, in woodland clearings, and open meadows, and provides food for many birds and a few mammals.
Vaccinium corymbosum (Highbush blueberry)
Conceptual diagram illustrating the important ecological functions that mangroves provide to the marine environment.
Mangrove ecological functions
The ocean provides a wealth of services that directly benefit human well-being. Over half the worlds population lives within 100 miles of a coastline, and 20 of the 30 largest cities in the world are coastal. There is increasing access to remote areas, and there are important connections between human well-being and the marine environment. The most widely recognized marine ecosystem services are discussed.
Ecosystem services of the ocean
Illustration map of Sequim and Discovery Bays in Washington, USA
USA WA: Sequim and Discovery Bays
3-D illustration of a lighthouse.
Lighthouse 2
One approach to the development of better coastal and marine policy and management is the concept of marine managed areas (MMAs). A MMA is an area of ocean, or combination of land and ocean, where human activities are managed toward common goals. MMAs are a form of ecosystem-based management, where all elements of a particular system are considered together. When the principles of a marine managed area are fully implemented, the resulting benefits to both the environment and humans can be optimized.
Marine managed areas
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