해양보호구역 환경수용력과 출입관리 정책의 효과성 평가

Abstract

Marine protected areas are a widely used management tool to conserve marine species and habitats and provide a variety of benefits to humans and nature. The number and area of marine protected areas in Korea have increased since 2001 when they were first designated. However, practical measures such as no-take zones or restricted access zones, which are key to marine protection zones' success, have not been implemented. Effective management is necessary to ensure that marine protected areas do not become paper parks. At the same time, there is a need for sustainable use that maximizes the benefits to humans within the limits of what the natural environment can accept. This study aims to suggest a plan for harmonious conservation and use, focusing on recreational activities in marine protected areas. To this end, the sustainability of the current recreational use of the marine protected area of interest was evaluated based on its environmental carrying capacity. This study presented an alternative policy and evaluated its effectiveness in terms of economic value and acceptance. The contributions of this study are that it provides scientific data for implementing policies and that it combines biophysical and preference-based methodologies. The first study evaluated the sustainability of recreational activities through environmental carrying capacity and the value of the Munseom Marine Protected Area (MPA) by applying the emergy evaluation method, a type of biophysical-based evaluation method. The annual value of the natural environment of the Munseom MPA was 2.40×109 sej (solar joule), about KRW 2.4 billion in monetary units, and the value per area was about KRW 1.84 million per hectare. The carrying capacity of scuba diving was evaluated by the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI). The ESI was 6.75, which was less than 10, indicating that it was not sustainable. If the current annual number of divers is reduced by about 20%, ESI becomes sustainable. Exceeding the environmental capacity of current use means that intervention through policy is necessary. This study is significant in that it presented a framework for evaluating the environmental carrying capacity of recreational activities. The second study proposed the island rest system, a policy that restricts spatial and temporal access within the Munseom MPA, and estimated divers' preferences and economic value. As for methodology, a choice experiment, a preference-based valuation method, was applied. A total of 533 questionnaires were collected from divers through online and field surveys, among which 296 were finally analyzed after excluding insincere responses. As a result, the marginal willingness to pay for a six-month closure was found to be KRW 8,637 per diver per dive. The positive marginal willingness to pay means that the respondent prefers the island rest system and is likely to accept the island rest system. The total value multiplied by the number of divers per year is about KRW 233 million, which can be used as a benefit item in the cost-benefit analysis of introducing an island rest system. The significance of this study is that it considered divers as a partner to marine conservation and applied the choice experiment for the first time in Korea. The limitation is that it did not reflect the perspectives of other stakeholders, such as recreational fishers (anglers), residents, and divers operators. The third study analyzed the factors influencing recreational fishers' support for marine protected areas. Recreational fishers are a major stakeholder group concerning recreational activities in marine protected areas along with divers. The need for a policy to restrict fishing in marine protected areas stems from the expectation that the continuous increase of the fishing population and the absence of management such as through a fishing license system will highly impact the marine environment in Korea. To find out the acceptance of anglers to alternative policies, factors affecting the support of marine protected areas were analyzed. A total of 942 responses from recreational fishers were obtained through an online survey. The dependent variable was support for marine protected areas. The explanatory variables were related to the attitude toward the marine protected area, recreation specialization, and the theory of planned behavior. As a result of the ordered probit model, the more people recognized marine protected areas and their positive effects, the more they supported them. However, the more experience they had in fishing in the marine protected area, the less they supported it. The recreational specialization had a positive effect on the support toward marine protected areas. As for the consumptive orientation, the tendency not to keep fish and the tendency to catch trophy fish had a positive effect on the support of marine protected areas, but the tendency to catch something had a negative effect. It was found that the variables of the theory of planned behavior had a positive effect. This shows that there is a possibility that recreational fishers may accept fishing restriction policies in marine protected areas. The limitation is that additional investigation is needed for those who mainly fish in marine protected areas. The study presented the scientific basis for the introduction of management policies by analyzing the effects from a balanced perspective between the ecosystem and users. Since it becomes more important to conserve and wisely use the marine environment, the methods and results of this study can be used in research and management policies on marine protected areas.

해양보호구역은 해양 종(種)과 서식지를 보전하고자 전 세계적으로 널리 쓰이고 있는 관리 도구이며, 인간과 자연에 다양한 혜택을 제공한다. 우리나라는 2001년 처음으로 해양보호구역을 지정한 후 해양보호구역의 개소와 면적은 증가하였다. 그러나 해양보호구역 지정의 성공적 핵심이라 할 수 있는 채취금지구역이나 출입 제한구역 등의 제도는 시행되지 않고 있다. 해양보호구역이 문서상으로만 존재하는 보호지역이 되지 않으면서 동시에 자연환경이 수용할 수 있는 범위 내에서 인간이 얻는 혜택을 최대화 하려면 효과적인 관리 정책이 필요하다. 이 연구는 해양보호구역 내 여가활동에 초점을 맞추어 해양보호구역의 조화로운 보전과 이용을 위한 방안을 제시하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이 논문은 정책 시행을 위한 과학기반 근거를 제시한다는 점에서 정책적 의의가 있으며, 잘 사용되지 않는 생물리 기반과 선호도 기반 방법론을 적용하였다는 점에서 학술적 기여가 있다. 이 논문은 세 개의 소논문으로 구성되어 있다. 첫 번째 소논문은 해양보호구역 내 여가 이용의 환경수용력 산정을 통해 지속가능성을 진단하고, 정책 개입의 과학적 근거를 마련하였다. 방법론은 생물리 기반 평가법의 하나인 에머지(emergy) 평가법을 적용하였다. 문섬 해역 자연환경의 연간 가치는 2.40×109sej(solar joule), 약 24억 원으로 나타났다. 에머지지속성지수로 평가한 스쿠버 다이빙 활동은 지속가능하지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 두 번째 소논문은 해양보호구역 출입관리 정책을 대안 정책으로 제시하고 정책의 경제적 가치와 이용자 선호도 분석을 통해 효과성을 평가하였다. 대안 정책은 문섬 해역 해양보호구역에 출입제한 구역과 시기를 지정하는 섬 휴식제로 설정하였다. 다이버를 대상으로 방법론은 선호도 기반 평가법인 선택실험법을 적용하였다. 섬 휴식제 6개월 시행에 대한 다이버 1인당 연간 한계지불의사액은 약 8,637원, 총 가치는 연간 약 2억 3,320만 원으로 도출되었다. 이는 섬 휴식제의 경제적 가치가 문섬 해역 해양보호구역 관리예산 규모와 비견할 정도이며 섬 휴식제가 도입되었을 때 다이버가 수용할 가능성이 있다는 것을 의미한다. 세 번째 소논문은 출입관리 정책의 수용성과 효과성을 평가하기 위해 여가이용자의 해양보호구역 지지 영향 요인 분석을 수행하였다. 연구 방법은 낚시인을 대상으로 설문조사로 자료를 수집하고 해양보호구역 지지도를 종속변수로 하는 회귀분석을 수행하였다. 해양보호구역 인식과 태도는 해양보호구역 지지에 긍정적인 영향을 끼쳤으나 여가전문화는 부정적인 영향을 끼쳤다. 그 외에 자원소비성향과 계획행동이론 변수의 영향도 살펴보았다. 이 논문의 결과는 생태계와 이용자의 균형 잡힌 시각으로 관리제도의 도입과 효과를 분석하여 관리정책 도입의 근거를 과학적으로 제시하였다. 그러나 공식 통계의 부재로 인한 자료 부족과 모든 이해관계자의 관점이 반영되지 못했다는 한계가 있다. 해양환경을 보전하면서도 현명하게 이용하는 것이 그 어느 때보다 중요한 이때 이 연구에서 제시한 방법론과 결과는 해양보호구역 연구와 관리정책에 활용될 수 있을 것이다.