Post by Arno Neumann

Marine Protected areas and vulnerability to wastewater. —-//- “ Many marine protected areas are established near coastlines to help fragile and overburdened ecosystems that people depend on for food, tourism and livelihoods recover, rebuild and thrive. But their nearshore locations make them particularly vulnerable to contamination that can undermine their purpose, said Amelia Wenger, co-author of the study and global water pollution lead at the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global nonprofit dedicated to protecting wildlife, based at the Bronx Zoo in New York. “Even a perfectly managed marine protected area will fail to achieve benefits for conservation and for people if wastewater keeps flowing in from upstream,” she said. For the study, Wenger and Carrasco Rivera analyzed pollution exposure in more than 16,000 marine protected areas across Australasia and Melanesia, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, the Coral Triangle, East Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and North Africa. About 12,000 had been contaminated by sewage, Wenger said. “… #Blue_Economy #MPA #wastewater #sewage #mangroves #coral_reefs