TOEFL統合ライティング

📖 読解文章

The establishment of large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) has been proposed as a key strategy for conserving ocean biodiversity. Proponents argue that these vast, no-take zones offer three major benefits. First, they provide a refuge for commercially important fish species, allowing their populations to recover and spill over into adjacent fishing grounds, thereby increasing overall catches. Second, large MPAs protect entire ecosystems, including deep-sea habitats and migratory corridors, which are often disrupted by fragmented small reserves. This holistic protection helps maintain ecological processes and resilience against climate change. Third, large MPAs are more cost-effective to enforce than numerous small ones, as they require fewer patrol vessels and monitoring stations per unit area, reducing the financial burden on governments and conservation organizations. Overall, advocates claim that creating a network of large MPAs is a practical and efficient solution to the ongoing crisis in marine biodiversity.

🎧 リスニング講義

The professor challenges the reading's enthusiasm for large marine protected areas. While the reading claims that large MPAs boost fish stocks, the professor points out that fish populations often decline even within these reserves due to illegal fishing, which is difficult to control across vast, remote areas. Moreover, many commercially valuable species, such as tuna, are highly migratory; they spend most of their lives outside MPA boundaries, so protecting a fixed area does little to reduce their exploitation. Regarding ecosystem protection, the professor counters that large MPAs are not necessarily ecologically coherent. They encompass a mosaic of habitats, but without targeted management, threats like ocean acidification or pollution from distant sources still affect the entire area, undermining the notion of holistic protection. Finally, the professor refutes the cost-effectiveness argument. While large MPAs may reduce per-unit enforcement costs in theory, in practice their sheer size requires expensive surveillance technologies, such as satellite monitoring and aerial patrols, which are often beyond the budgets of developing nations. Consequently, many large MPAs exist only on paper, lacking real enforcement. Thus, the professor concludes that the presumed advantages of large MPAs are overstated and that smaller, well-managed reserves may be more effective.