Protection for aquatic habitats: are land-based legal tools appropriate?

摘要

Legislation for the protection of habitats by protected area designations has generally been drafted to meet the needs of terrestrial habitats and the species they support. It is argued that this approach is not always conducive to marine and freshwater conservation, especially for mobile species for which fixed sites are both difficult to define and of limited value. The list of species and habitats protected is also inadequate for most types of designation because there is an emphasis on vertebrates, especially birds and mammals.