Samantha Farquhar

Samantha Farquhar is as MA student in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. With the help of the FLAS, Sam has been studying Canada’s national and international relations with regards to its marine conservation commitments. Canada recently promised the international community that it would protect 10 percent of its marine and coastal areas by 2020.  Traditionally, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been use to measure such, but Canada has  caught the rest of the world’s attention by designating “other effective area-based conservation measures” or OECMs  and accounting these areas toward their national conservation commitments. OECMs are a defined area that has a biodiversity conservation benefit even though biodiversity wasn’t the primary goal of the area to begin with. This is different from a MPA in which biodiversity conservation is always the primary goal of the area. While this is innovative for Canada and has set precedence for other States, it has also led to debates about the true meaning of what “conservation” and “protected” is as some disagree with the OECM concept. Given the growing importance and emphasis of marine conservation issues, this topic is of major concern in many international arenas.  Additionally, the FLAS has allowed Sam to become comfortable with the French language which is a requirement for both working for the Government of Canada or many intergovernmental organizations–both of which interest Sam.