Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Canada’s Network of Marine Protected Areas

Map of Canada -  DFO Marine Protected Areas

Jan. 18, 2011
MPA Network
The Government of Canada is working with the provinces and territories to conserve Canada's marine ecosystems through the development of a National Network of Marine Protected Areas. Canada has the world's longest coastline, three oceans, the Great Lakes and a sea of Arctic ice - all of which support an elaborate web of marine life.
Marine protected areas are effective in protecting plants, animals and habitats as well as enhancing biodiversity and improving the health and sustainable use of our oceans, Great Lakes and coastlines, while also contributing to Canadian coastal communities and industries. Canada has almost 800 marine protected areas, which together protect about one percent of the marine environment. Existing and proposed marine protected areas provide the foundation for building the national network of marine protected areas, which will be composed of a number of bioregional networks of marine protected areas.
draft National Framework for Canada’s Network of Marine Protected Areas has been created to provide direction for the design of the national network of marine protected areas. The National Framework is an important step towards meeting Canada's domestic and international commitments to establish a national network of marine protected areas by 2012. It is available for comment until the end of the day on February 3, 2011 -Comment Form. At the end of the public review period, comments received will be taken into consideration when preparing the final draft National Framework.

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