Fundamentos de mantenimiento de software

AREA DISCOURSE AND THE GLOBAL OCEANS GOVERNANCE

SYSTEM

Introduction

The global oceans governance system, that is, the vast array of instruments, agreements, measures, institutions, regimes, initiatives and agents devoted to oceans management domestically, regionally and globally, is driven by the dual priority social goals of ensuring that the resources appropriated from the oceans and seas remain available and sustainable, and that as little harm as possible is inflicted on the marine environment. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Whether this vast array of agents and rules will achieve these objectives is questionable, however the priority social goals have been established and the system within which they operate is described in this chapter as a complex adaptive system (cas)47. This is because the cas paradigm describes the dynamic processes on a scale determinative of these priority social goals.

One of the tools identified to achieve the goal of inflicting as little harm as possible on the marine environment beyond coastal state jurisdiction, that is, in the deep oceans and seabed known as the high seas and Area respectively, is the marine protected area. This chapter provides the paradigmatical and metaphorical framework within which to examine the concept of high seas marine protected areas, the way in which the high seas epistemic community frames its arguments for their creation (high seas MPA discourse), and the ‘fit’ of discourse and community in the global oceans governance system. The complex adaptive systems paradigm contributes toward an even deeper understanding of the ‘fit’ of concepts such as high seas marine protected areas in global oceans

governance.

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\In the words of François Jacob (1977, 1161): “Whether mythic or scientific, the view of the world that man constructs is always largely a product of imagination.” The concept of systems is no exception: they are a human construct borne of our imaginations, a means by which we can explain a part or parts of our universe.

While a simple description of a system involves two or more interacting components surrounded by an environment in which it may or may not interact (O’Neill et al 1986, 38), “the best description of a system”, according to Norton and Ulanowicz, “is one that describes dynamic processes on a scale determinative of priority social goals” (1992, 244, emphasis added).

Global oceans governance is a system exhibiting the four cornerstones of the cas paradigm – adaptation, emergence, self-organisation, and hierarchy (Holland 1995). It is an emergent and self organised phenomenon adapting to new demands and pressures as new knowledge about the state of deep ocean habitats and marine biological diversity and geology becomes available. It is also hierarchically organised at multiple levels as the magnitude and scope of various challenges increases and agents attempt to find and implement solutions in domestic, regional and international contexts.

The High Seas Epistemic Community

Nested within this global oceans governance cas is a high seas epistemic community campaigning for a legally binding framework of instruments and initiatives to protect the biodiversity of marine ecosystems beyond national jurisdiction. It is one of many in a constellation of agents circulating within global oceans governance arena.

An epistemiccommunity is defined as “a network of professionals with recognised expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy- relevant knowledge within that domain or issue area” (Haas 1989). The high seas epistemic community is embedded within the larger global oceans governance cas and comprises representatives from domestic government agencies, academia, scientific research institutions, international and regional organisations and institutions, and global

non-government environmental organisations and coalitions who together are exploring ways of achieving their common goal – the conservation and protection of high seas biodiversity. The high seas epistemic community comprises a core group of members who for the most part have stayed the course primarily through their membership of, or affiliation with international environmental non-government organisations and global environmental trust funds and their commitment to the priority social goal of ensuring protection for all oceans biodiversity.

A key tool in the high seas epistemic community’s conservation kit is the marine protected area. The discourse taking place within the high seas epistemic community indicates that one of its priority social goals is that of a global representative system of marine protected areas by 2012. The temporally finite intention of this social goal implies a means to an end – as discussed throughout this thesis, the high seas epistemic community’s primary aim has been framed in terms of achieving a globally

representative system of MPAs by 2012. Marine protected area proponents envisage this goal making a significant contribution toward protecting marine habitats and resources in the high seas and Area and an ‘invaluable’ addition to an already extensive suite of tools premised on conservation and/or protection of high seas biodiversity in the complex adaptive system that is oceans governance. The extent of this suite of tools is demonstrated in Appendix 1, nevertheless, the high seas epistemic community’s campaign is driven by the perception that to protect ocean biodiversity, spatial

management tools such as MPAs are critical. As described in Chapter’s Four and Five, the high seas epistemic community is one agent among many in a complex adaptive system hosting multiple dynamic and divergent views and goals.

The high seas epistemic community is an agent in the global oceans governance cas that is interacting with other agents within the system. High seas MPA discourse is

examined in greater detail in Chapters Four and Five. Chapter Five in particular demonstrates the depth of influence of the high seas epistemic community in

international fora addressing the protection of oceans biodiversity. As will be argued in the Chapter Six, many within the high seas epistemic community have assumed a linear

approach to the concept of high seas MPAs by advocating their creation in the context of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) agreement for a global representative network of MPAs to be achieved by 2012.

At the heart of this research project is the question of whether high seas marine protected areas are indeed ‘an idea whose time has come’ and if so, how they might be achieved. Are they necessary when there is already a significant and growing body of international conventions, regulations, instruments, and formal and informal agreements ranging from bilateral, to regional and global which are designed to conserve and protect elements of high seas biodiversity and geomorphic features? Is a global representative system of MPAs by 2012, as advocated by the high seas epistemic community, a pragmatic, realistic and achievable goal? Is a global system of MPAs needed? Do we need another consensually achieved, legally binding agreement to cement the place of high seas MPAs in international law or might there be other means of testing the political will of nation states directly involved in activities in the high seas and Area? These primary questions are best addressed by analysing them within the frame of the complex adaptive systems paradigm, and employing the four characteristics and seven basic elements of cas as metaphors for deeper examination of the high seas epistemic community’s approach to the creation of high seas MPAs. This chapter represents a journey through the cas paradigm and its attendant metaphors in order to explain why this is being used as the backdrop for deeper analysis of the high seas epistemic community’s approach to the protection of deep oceans biodiversity.

Complexity and Complex Adaptive Systems