Environment, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

SOUTH AMERICA: Still Time to Save the Patagonian Sea

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 8 2008 (IPS) - It is not too late to save the area of the South Atlantic known as the Patagonian Sea, one of the richest marine ecosystems in the southern hemisphere, says the report of an international alliance of environmental groups.

After four years of work involving more than 80 experts, the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence is releasing its report assessing the state of conservation of the area.

“Today we are still in time to maintain the ecological integrity and productive potential of this vast ecosystem,” concludes the extensive report, of which a 300-page executive summary under the title “Review of the Status of Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and its Areas of Influence” is being published this month.

The Patagonian Sea is a three million square kilometre southwestern stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, running from southern Brazil to Uruguay, Argentina’s southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego, and west around Cape Horn, along the Chilean fjords.

The Forum is an alliance of South American and international environmental groups formed in 2004 to advocate for the preservation of a region rich in biodiversity, which has a huge environmental significance for humanity.

The Argentine members of the alliance include Fundación Patagonia Natural (the Natural Patagonia Foundation) and Fundación Vida Silvestre (the Wildlife Foundation), and the international members include the Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Publication of the ambitious research project was made possible by funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Forum coordinator Claudio Campagna told IPS that one of the goals of the Review was to “gather together the fragmented and partial knowledge that exists on the area.”

“If it’s true that change is built on information, we are at the most promising stage in terms of finding solutions to the problems affecting this ecosystem,” he said.

Campagna, a marine mammal expert, explained that, in contrast to what occurs in other seas, “not a single species has been endangered to the point of extinction” in the Patagonian Sea. “We are heading towards the collapse of certain populations, and others are dropping considerably in numbers, but no species has gone extinct,” he underlined.

The report warns that illegal and non-sustainable fishing, the incidental catching of sea birds, mammals and turtles, the introduction of species for aquiculture purposes, and the discharge of untreated sewage are some of the “serious problems that are threatening the abundance of species and the economic potential” of this vast expanse of saltwater.

“At least 20 coastal cities in Uruguay and Argentina discharge their untreated sewage into the aquatic environment,” says the report. This phenomenon is felt most acutely in the waters surrounding the metropolitan areas of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but it also affects other seaside cities.

The Patagonian Sea is one of the most productive marine regions in the southern hemisphere. There, for example, phytoplankton – the microscopic floating plants that are at the base of the food chain in water ecosystems – is found in concentrations that are on average three times greater than that of any other ocean. The Sea absorbs enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and contributes to mitigating global warming.

Moreover, according to the study, this habitat provides a haven for 700 species of vertebrates, including animals such as dolphins, penguins, South American sea lions and whales, which attract great global attention and help draw support for conservation programmes.

Of the world’s 129 marine mammal species, 47 can be found in the Patagonian Sea, and a total of 83 species of marine and coastal birds live in the area, along with five of the seven known sea turtle species.

As for invertebrates, there are 900 species of molluscs alone, some of which are only found in the Patagonian Sea.

In addition to the many species that are commercially important – such as squid, common hake, croaker and shrimp -, the ecosystem’s global significance resides in the fact that it provides a feeding ground for migratory birds, fish, turtles and sea mammals that travel to the area from distant regions, the Review points out.

Every year, millions of Magellanic penguins gather to breed in coastal and island nesting colonies.

And during breeding season, the Southern Right Whale draws large numbers of whale watchers to the coast of Argentina.

In spite of the wealth of natural resources, only 0.5 percent of the area is protected, through some one hundred coastal preservation areas, which are not connected and thus lack the necessary integration to face the challenges posed by a dynamic system. What is worse is that these areas are characterised “by relatively ineffective management,” the study underlines.

“The international goal is to have 10 percent of the world’s oceans under some form of protection by 2012,” Campagna said. But for the Patagonian Sea, that target seems far away.

Nonetheless, the Forum “does not share the simplistic view that the solution to the Patagonian Sea’s conservation problems lies solely in the establishment of protected areas where all forms of economic activities are banned,” he said.

“The Forum has detected some areas where greater protection would be justified. But it deems that it is possible to achieve a form of ecosystem management that will promote economic activities without affecting biodiversity or the natural course of ecological processes,” he added.

As an industry, “fishing in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay has relatively low importance in the context of each state,” the study’s authors observe. In Brazil’s case it amounts to only 0.8 percent of the country’s total production of goods, while in Argentina it drops to 0.3 percent, and in Uruguay to 0.1 percent. This means that there is great potential for development.

The researchers suggest that an “integrated model” is needed to assess the value of sea products and services and to preserve some 65 endangered species, including sea turtles and an increasing number of sharks and rays, in addition to sea birds and mammals that are at risk.

The Review notes that the problems “are not caused by a lack of legislation but by faults in the application and enforcement of the existing legal framework,” and that some conservation instruments that could contribute to the sustainable use of resources “are employed, but only timidly.”

“Planet Earth is a great ocean dotted with a few huge ‘islands’ called continents,” the study concludes, in an effort to highlight the wealth that must be preserved.

Oceans and seas occupy 70 percent of the planet’s surface, and 80 percent of the southern hemisphere, but only few seem to be aware of the magnitude of the wealth held in these waters.