Combining geomorphologic, biological and accessibility values formarine natural heritage evaluation and conservation

摘要

1. Natural heritage is the complex of geomorphologic and biological elements worthy of conservation. 2. Especially in the marine environment, conservation effort is often focused on the biological elements only,while multi-disciplinary approaches, including abiotic elements and social issues, are needed. 3. A procedure to evaluate the Marine Natural Heritage (MNH) as a whole, integrating geomorphology andbiology, was tested in two coastal areas in the Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean): Punta Manara, a EuropeanSite of Community Interest (SCI), and Finale – Vado Ligure (non-SCI). In each area, scuba surveys werecarried out at six sites to categorize subtidal landforms and habitats, and these were then used as evaluationunits for assigning scores to subcategories of both geomorphological (Integrity, Representativeness, Rarity,Paleogeographic, Aesthetic) and biological (Naturalness, Vulnerability, Rarity, Economic, Aesthetic) categories. 4. Four sites in the area of Punta Manara obtained high scores, thus fully justifying the special managementmeasures required for SCI implementation. However, two sites in the Finale – Vado Ligure area exhibitedbiological heritage values higher than those of Punta Manara, while a third site exhibited values comparablewith those of Punta Manara when considering both biology and geomorphology. This highlighted the presenceof features worth conserving also in non-SIC situations. 5. Accessibility to scuba divers was evaluated by means of a simple scheme, and added information on theperception of MNH in the study sites. 6. It is suggested that the evaluation system may be used, with appropriate benchmarking, in other areas for theselection of sites proposed for legal protection or special management measures, based on their natural heritagevalues.