Portugal leads marine protection with new designated area

By Andrei Khalip and Simon Jessop

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal said on Wednesday it was creating a new protected marine area around the Gorringe Ridge in the Atlantic Ocean that includes Western Europe's tallest seamount, positioning itself as a leader on the way to international conservation goals.

The announcement by Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho comes as countries gather in the French city of Nice for the third U.N. Oceans conference, aiming to accelerate action to preserve marine environments.

Carvalho said that with the Gorringe marine protected area (MPA), some 200 km (124 miles) off the southern coast of continental Portugal, and two smaller areas to be created, the share of its seas protected would rise to at least 27% from 19%.

"In terms of marine protection we are the most advanced country in the world with our characteristics combining continental and insular territory. Certainly the leader in Europe," she said.

The creation of more MPAs globally is a key goal of the U.N. conference amid a push to get more countries to ratify and implement the 2023 High Seas Treaty, which provides a legal framework to protect biodiversity in international waters.

So far, 51 countries have ratified the treaty, just short of the 60 needed for it to become legally binding.

According to a report from last October, 8.4% of the world's marine and coastal areas were protected, less than a third of the way to a global goal of 30% by 2030.

Carvalho said the creation of the MPA was expected to be approved by decree in the next couple of months, with total acreage and detail on how much will be designated as a fully protected area, where no fishing is allowed, to be determined.

Emanuel Gonçalves, chief scientist at Oceano Azul Foundation, which mapped the area with the Portuguese navy and whose findings informed the government decision, said the recommended MPA would total 100,000 square kilometres (38,610 square miles).

"A large-scale MPA like this, if fully protected, will functionally connect seamounts, abyssal plains, and open ocean, and create a safe haven to highly mobile and migratory species, and deep sea habitats," he said.

"It will provide a fertile nursery and feeding ground for turtles, sharks, marine mammals, sea birds and tunas, expand or restore kelp and coral forests and create a sanctuary for the unique breeding aggregation of torpedo rays."

Last year, Portugal created the largest protected area in the North Atlantic, encompassing almost 300,000 sq km around the Azores archipelago, half of it fully-protected.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip and Simon Jessop. Editing by Mark Potter)