China’s stature as the world’s major producer and consumer of seafood is legendary, but its long-standing tradition of protecting marine life domestically is virtually unknown.  We present the most comprehensive database on area-based marine conservation in China including 326 sites that conserve 12.98% of China’s seas and address 142 conservation objectives.  Twenty-two percent of shallow habitats (<10 meters) were fully or highly protected and 20% of waters 10-50 meters deep were conserved to some degree.  Recent studies have identified deep waters (>50 meters) as critical to protect, yet <5% of these waters in China were conserved, primarily in areas with the highest chl.-α concentrations.  Habitats such as underwater canyons and seamounts beyond the continental shelf had no area-based protection.  While China has made progress in marine protection within its boundaries, there is more work to be done to ensure that the full suite of marine life is safeguarded.

This data set was collected via a combination of remote research and expert consultation on China's national network of marine protected areas (MPAs) and aquatic germplasm reserves (AGRs).  Refer to the manuscript and corresponding supplementary text for further information.

Journal: Science Advances

Title: China’s little-known efforts to protect its marine ecosystems safeguards some habitats but omits others
Authors: John J. Bohorquez1,2, Guifang Xue3, Timothy Frankstone1,2, Maria M. Grima1,2, Karine Kleinhaus1,2,4, Yiyi Zhao3, Ellen K. Pikitch*,1,2

*Corresponding author Email: ellen.pikitch@stonybrook.edu
Stony Brook University, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook, NY, USA 11794
Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA 11794
KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
School of Global Public Health (GPH), New York University, New York, NY 10012

Date of data collection: November 2019 – April 2021

Abstract:

China’s stature as the world’s major producer and consumer of seafood is legendary, but its long-standing tradition of protecting marine life domestically is virtually unknown.  We present the most comprehensive database on area-based marine conservation in China including 326 sites that conserve 12.98% of China’s seas and address 142 conservation objectives.  Twenty-two percent of shallow habitats (<10 meters) were fully or highly protected and 20% of waters 10-50 meters deep were conserved to some degree.  Recent studies have identified deep waters (>50 meters) as critical to protect, yet <5% of these waters in China were conserved, primarily in areas with the highest chl.-α concentrations.  Habitats such as underwater canyons and seamounts beyond the continental shelf had no area-based protection.  While China has made progress in marine protection within its boundaries, there is more work to be done to ensure that the full suite of marine life is safeguarded.

Data Files:

SUPPLEMENTAL_MPA_DATA.xlsx

Description:

This Excel workbook contains data for each MPA and AGR used in the analysis compiled into different formats across five sheets.  Sheet 1, “Data Guide” contains a checklist of what is included in each of the other four sheets.  Sheet 2, “Consolidated Dataset” includes only the basic data that was used in the overlap analysis.  Sheet 3, “Full Dataset”, includes everything in Sheet 2 in addition to other contextual information and background sources used to populate the dataset.  Sheet 4, “Conservation Objectives” includes a list of the presence or absence (“TRUE” or “FALSE”) of each conservation objective identified in the research process for each MPA and AGR, as well as the level 1 and 2 aggregations for each objective (see main body and supplemental text).  Sheet 5, “Sites Outside Study Scope”, includes all of the data for the 2 MPAs and 2 AGRs that were outside of the spatial scope for the study and not directly included in the analysis (see main body and supplemental text).  The variables and relevant rows and columns in Sheets 2 through 5 are indicated in the following lists:

Sheet 2, “Consolidated Dataset” - Columns [column letter(s)]:

Site ID [A]: Unique identifier for each MPA and AGR in the study
Chinese Name 1 [B]: Name of MPA/AGR in Chine characters from remote research process (see methods for description).
English Name 1 [C]: Name of MPA/AGR in English from remote research process, translated from Chinese.
Establishment Year [D]: Year MPA was established.
Governance Level [E]: Governance level of management authority; national, provincial, county, local/municipal.
Type [F]: AGR or type of MPA; Marine Nature Reserve, Special Marine Protected Area, Marine Park.
Location [G]: Specific town or municipality of location.
Province [H]: Province of location.
Sea [I]: Sea of location; Bohai Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Yellow Sea
Latitude [J]: Degrees North.
Longitude [K]: Degrees East.
Area (km2) [L]: Area of the MPA/AGR.

Sheet 3, “Full Dataset” - Columns [column letter(s)]:

Site ID [A]: Unique identifier for each MPA and AGR in the study
Chinese Name 1 [B]: Name of MPA/AGR in Chine characters from remote research process (see methods for description).
English Name 1 [C]: Name of MPA/AGR in English from remote research process, translated from Chinese.
Chinese Name 2 [D]: Name of MPA/AGR in Chine characters from expert consultation process (see methods for description).
English Name 2 [E]: Name of MPA/AGR in English from expert consultation process, translated from Chinese.
Establishment Year [F]: Year MPA was established.
Governance Level [G]: Governance level of management authority; national, provincial, county, local/municipal.
Type [H]: AGR or type of MPA; Marine Nature Reserve, Special Marine Protected Area, Marine Park.
Location [I]: Specific town or municipality of location.
Province [J]: Province of location.
Sea [K]: Sea of location; Bohai Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Yellow Sea
Latitude [L]: Degrees North.
Longitude [M]: Degrees East.
Source [N]: Name of source from where coordinates were found.
Method [O]: Method for identifying coordinates (see supplementary text).
Coordinate Source [P]: Details on source (e.g., page number or google search term).
Coordinate Link/Details [Q]: Direct website/link where coordinates were found.
Area (km2) [R]: Area of the MPA/AGR
Marine only (km2) [S]: If reported, area of the MPA/AGR that is marine only.
Area Source [T]: Name of the source of information for area (km2).
Details + Links [U]: Page number, weblink etc. for source of area data.
Objective Source [V]: Source where conservation objectives were determined (e.g. page number, weblink).

Sheet 4, “Conservation Objectives” – Columns and Rows [column letter(s), row number(s)]

Site ID [A, 5:326]: Unique identifier for each MPA and AGR in the study
Conservation Objective [A:EM, 1]: Name of conservation objective as collected from data source (see “Objective Source” in Sheet 3, “Full Dataset).
Aggregate 1 [A:EM, 2]: Aggregate 1 category of each conservation objective.
Aggregate 2 [A:EM, 3]: Aggregate 2 category of each conservation objective.
Presence/absence of conservation objective [B:EM, 5:326]: Presence or absence (“TRUE” or “FALSE”) of each conservation objective for each MPA or AGR.

Sheet 5, “Sites Outside Study Scope” - Columns [column letter(s)]:

Site ID [A]: Unique identifier for each MPA and AGR in the study
Chinese Name 1 [B]: Name of MPA/AGR in Chine characters from remote research process (see methods for description).
English Name 1 [C]: Name of MPA/AGR in English from remote research process, translated from Chinese.
Chinese Name 2 [D]: Name of MPA/AGR in Chine characters from expert consultation process (see methods for description).
English Name 2 [E]: Name of MPA/AGR in English from expert consultation process, translated from Chinese.
Establishment Year [F]: Year MPA was established.
Governance Level [G]: Governance level of management authority; national, provincial, county, local/municipal.
Type [H]: AGR or type of MPA; Marine Nature Reserve, Special Marine Protected Area, Marine Park.
Location [I]: Specific town or municipality of location.
Province [J]: Province of location.
Sea [K]: Sea of location; Bohai Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Yellow Sea
Latitude [L]: Degrees North.
Longitude [M]: Degrees East.
Source [N]: Name of source from where coordinates were found.
Method [O]: Method for identifying coordinates (see supplementary text).
Coordinate Source [P]: Details on source (e.g., page number or google search term).
Coordinate Link/Details [Q]: Direct website/link where coordinates were found.
Area (km2) [R]: Area of the MPA/AGR
Marine only (km2) [S]: If reported, area of the MPA/AGR that is marine only.
Area Source [T]: Name of the source of information for area (km2).
Details + Links [U]: Page number, weblink etc. for source of area data.
Conservation Objectives [V]: Conservation objectives for each MPA and AGR.
Objective Source [W]: Source where conservation objectives were determined (e.g. page number, weblink).

Note: Cells containing "NA" indicate data that were not available, and blank cells indicate information that was not available or applicable.