The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
Increasing technical capability to exploit mineral resources on or beneath the sea bed and to exploit fishery resources in deep waters led to the Third United Nations Conference of the Law of the Sea, which ran from 1973 to 1977. The outcome was an agreement to enable nations to take measures, including regulation of fishing and protection of living resources of the continental shelf, to a distance of 200 nautical miles from their national jurisdictional baseline. This provided a legal basis on which MPAs could be established and marine resources conserved in areas beyond territorial seas. Importantly, this convention, which came into force in November 1994, creates a formal responsibility for countries to protect the sea from land-sourced pollution.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
Entering into force in December 1993, this framework agreement is for the conservation of biodiversity (which is defined so as to include biological productivity), sustainable use of biological resources and the sharing of benefits from the use of biodiversity. It contains many clauses supporting the case for marine conservation in general and the establishment of MPAs in particular. Countries are obliged, among many other things, to develop national biodiversity strategies, to identify and monitor important components of biodiversity, to establish a system of protected areas to conserve biodiversity, to promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas and to rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems.

Under the Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity, adopted by the Parties to the CBD in 1995, Governments affirmed the importance of marine and coastal biodiversity. Five thematic issues were identified for action, including Marine and Coastal Protected Areas. Programme activities were approved in two areas: research and monitoring on the values of marine and coastal protected areas, and the development of criteria for their establishment and management.

The Ramsar or Wetlands Convention
The Convention on the Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar, Iran 1971) has as its mission. "The conservation and wise use of wetlands by national action and international cooperation as a means of achieving sustainable development throughout the world". Although initially focused on wetlands for migratory waterbirds, the Convention now takes into account the full range of wetland functions and values, and the need for an integrated approach to their management.

A principal obligation of Contracting Parties is to designate sites for the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Sites on the List must be managed to avoid changes in their "ecological character". Some 48% of the designated Ramsar sites include the coast and so may contain marine components. The Conference of Parties of the Convention has urged countries to give priority to designating new sites from wetland types that are currently under-represented on the Ramsar List so far, including coral reefs, mangroves and sea-grass beds.

The World Heritage Convention
The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, known as the World Heritage Convention, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 1972, entered into force in 1975 and in late nineties has 158 State Parties. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre provides its Secretariat. The Convention aims to identify and protect cultural and natural sites of outstanding, universal value.

Sites are nominated by governments and, following acceptance by the World Heritage Committee, are inscribed on the World Heritage List, as Natural, Cultural or Mixed Natural/Cultural Sites. By the end of 1998, the World Heritage List contained a total of 582 sites, where 445 Cultural, 117 Natural and 20 Mixed in 114 States. The Convention has proved a powerful lever in preventing damage to listed sites, which can be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger. Some financial assistance is available from the World Heritage Fund, provided by UNESCO's Member States.

The two main marine areas covered so far are the Belize Barrier Reef and the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), though World Heritage sites such as Tubbataha Reef (Philippines), Ujong Kulong (Indonesia), Shark Bay (Australia), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and Glacier Bay (Canada) contain large marine components, and others are estuarine, such as Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania) and the Sunderbans (Bangaladesh).

The UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme and its work on Biosphere Reserves

The UNESCO conference in 1968 conceived the idea of biosphere reserves as places to emphasize the human dimension of conserving and using the resources of the planet. Today, they are defined as "areas of terrestrial and coastal-marine ecosystems, which are internationally recognized for promoting and demonstrating a balanced relationship between people and nature".

A biosphere reserve has three functions:

• Conservation, contributing to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation;
  
  
• Development, fostering economic development which is ecologically and culturally sustainable;
  
  
• Provision of sites and facilities to support research, monitoring, training and education related to local, regional and global conservation and development issues.

The combination of these three functions provides an outcome that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is the special character of the biosphere reserve.

Biosphere reserves are organized into three inter-related zones:

• A core area, which should be legally established to ensure long-term protection and which should be large enough to meet defined conservation objectives. There is minimal human activity.
  
  
• A buffer zone around or next to the core, where activities must be regulated to protect the core zone. This can be an area for research to develop approaches for sustainable use of natural resources in the wider ecosystem in an economically viable way. It is also the area for ecosystem restoration. Education and training, as well as carefully designed tourism and recreation activities can take place here.
  
  
• An outer transition area or area of cooperation, whose limits may not be fixed. It is here that local communities, nature conservation agencies, scientists, cultural groups, private enterprises and other stakeholders should agree to work together to manage and develop area's resources sustainably, for the benefit of people who depend on the area.

Countries nominate individual sites to the UNESCO for addition to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, of which there were some 357 sites by October 1999. A Statutory Framework sets out the rules for governing the functioning of The World Network, but falls short of any legal obligations. However, more important is the innovative concept itself, which has proved of decisive significance in influencing the management of all large protected areas, whether or not inscribed on the UNESCO list.

The Migratory Species or Bonn Convention
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), signed in 1979, is a framework agreement under which groups of governments make Agreements, Memoranda of Understanding and Action Plans to conserve individual migratory species. Agreements that are predominantly marine include those on Seals in the Wadden Sea (1990), Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS, 1991), and Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (ACCOBAMS, 1996). An agreement on the Albatrosses in the Southern Hemisphere is in preparation. Although the agreements are predominantly about species management, controlling take, incidental damage and pollution control, they may include the creation of reserves, as in the case of the Wadden Sea seal agreement, which includes a set of seal reserves closed to all activities during the birth and nursing period.

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