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The Impact of Human Recreational Activities in Marine Protected Areas: What Lessons Should Be Learnt in the Mediterranean Sea?
Author(s) -
Milazzo Marco,
Chemello Renato,
Badalamenti Fabio,
Camarda Raffaele,
Riggio Silvano
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2002.tb00026.x
Subject(s) - marine protected area , recreation , seagrass , tourism , environmental resource management , intertidal zone , trampling , mediterranean sea , geography , scuba diving , environmental planning , great barrier reef , marine reserve , mediterranean climate , coral reef , habitat , ecology , environmental science , grazing , oceanography , biology , archaeology , geology
. The aesthetic appeal of marine reserves and the facilities provided, together with the increased public awareness of nature, all contribute to creating massive tourism in MPAs. Human activities are being changed inside MPAs in two ways: humans as top predators are generally being removed, but in turn they could come back at great numbers as visitors. Many authors have studied the impact of visitors, and the results highlight that the consequences can be very substantial and may represent a severe threat to the overall diversity of marine communities. To date, the documented effects of human recreational activities on natural communities are restricted to assessing the consequences of trampling over intertidal and upper infralittoral areas, boat anchoring in seagrass meadows and tropical reefs, or SCUB A‐diving. In this paper we review the available literature world‐wide on the effects of human recreational activities in marine communities. The objective is to address the extent of these impacts and to highlight the gaps of knowledge to be filled in order to optimise decision making on research, monitoring, and management of Mediterranean MPAs. A specific plan for managing tourism use in each Mediterranean MPA should be designated. These strategies should be implemented through education, training, and changes in legislation and policy.