Marine Protected Areas - Challenges in Ocean Protection

Quick Facts

1. Marine Protected Area (MPA) is the umbrella term for a range of conservation tools designed to protect marine biodiversity, promote healthy and resilient marine ecosystems, and improve socioeconomic wellbeing.
2. MPAs regulate human activities in designated areas, ranging from fully protected areas at the strictest level to minimally protected areas at the most lenient.
3. MPAs cover 8.35% of the ocean. This number has grown 10-fold since 2000, when only 0.7% of the ocean was protected.
4. Unfortunately, out of the 100 largest MPAs in the world (aka 90% of total global MPA coverage), one-quarter are still only "on paper" and are not yet “in the water. " One-third allow highly destructive activities such as industrial fishing, drilling, anchoring, and others, and only one-third are fully protected from these detrimental activities.

Learn more about MPA quality from the Marine Conservation Institute here:

Learn more from one of our grantees SeaLegacy here:

The Bigger Picture

500 kilometres south of the Baja California peninsula lies Revillagigedo National Park, an archipelago of four remote islands off the Western coast of Mexico. Made up of towering volcanoes, shallow coral reefs, and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, Revillagigedo is one of the most unique constellations of ecosystems on our planet. It is also North America’s largest highly and fully protected area, designated a Marine Reserve and National Park in 2017.

This MPA is of particular interest because its location at the junction of the California and Equatorial marine currents affords it a rich and diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna. Teeming with threatened and endemic species, Revillagigedo National Park protects its sharks, giant manta rays, pelagic fish, humpback whales, and turtles from all human intervention.

At this highest protection level, fishing, mining, and all other intensive resource extraction are prohibited, and infrastructure development on the islands is banned. As a result of these measures, Revillagigedo National Park has seen an exponential improvement in its biodiversity and abundance and is recognised as a shining example of an effectively managed MPA.

But, what are MPAs?

MPAs are a tool for ocean conservation and environmental management. They are sections of the ocean around the world that are regulated for the primary benefit of habitat and species protection. This regulation can contain a variety of restrictions on human activity and industry: mining, dredging and dumping, anchoring, infrastructure, aquaculture, fishing, and non-extractive activities.

MPAs are central to fulfilling our global commitment to protecting 30% of our land and ocean by 2030, otherwise known as the 30 by 30 goal. Scientists, NGOs, and governments agree that much more work must be done to achieve this ambition: as of this year, we have only protected 8.35% of the world’s ocean. So why haven’t we made more progress toward the 30 by 30 goal? With only six years remaining, we urgently need to address this question and expedite our efforts.

How do they come about?

(The MPA Guide, published by The MPA Project at Oregon State University and its partners, was invaluable in developing this comprehensive text. We are grateful for accessible scientific resources like these to continue our project of advancing ocean literacy within and beyond our network.)

A government first commits to establishing an MPA based on extensive research conducted by marine scientists on its potential for significant positive impacts on fish populations, habitat health, levels of biodiversity, and socioeconomic factors, among other factors. The government’s intent to establish an MPA is made public through various public engagement tools. Following this, MPAs are designated, which signifies the official legal status of a proposed MPA.

However, many MPAs do not progress, or at least progress incredibly slowly, beyond the designation stage: published in Conservation Letters in June of this year, a recent analysis of the world’s 100 largest MPAs (which account for 90% of the world’s MPA coverage) found that roughly 25% have not yet been implemented. This means one-quarter of the world's biggest MPAs have not yet progressed past their “on paper” designation, with disastrous consequences for global marine conservation and the legitimacy of MPAs as an effective conservation tool.

Once an MPA is implemented, it moves "into the water." An implemented MPA has a boundary, a management strategy for human activities, and plans for protecting critical habitats and species. It is only at this stage that the intended conservation results grow.

Over time, an MPA becomes actively managed as periodic reviews of conservation progress continue. Adjusting MPA management strategies based on these reviews is necessary to ensure compliance, accountability, and the achievement of the intended social, economic, and ecological goals.

What kinds of MPAs are there?

MPAs come in all shapes and sizes, and the strictness of their regulation can drastically vary. There is currently no defined framework for categorising and comparing different kinds of MPAs, but they are usually dubbed marine parks, conservation zones, reserves, sanctuaries, and no-take zones, each with a different level of protection.

The MPA Guide provides a framework for categorising MPAs by protection level (how strictly regulated they are) to increase transparency and promote the establishment of more protected, ecologically effective MPAs. This framework considers many human and industrial activities—mining, dredging, anchoring, infrastructure, aquaculture, fishing, and non-extractable activities—and evaluates them based on their intensity, scale, and duration. Based on these metrics, MPAs can be evaluated and range from minimally protected to fully protected.

Frameworks like the MPA Guide will prove critical as we continue to advocate for more MPAs and more effective MPAs. Indeed, the Conservation Letters analysis also found that one third of the assessed MPA coverage was “incompatible with the conservation of nature due to industrial activities, primarily industrial fishing.” Conversely, “implemented or actively managed MPAs that are fully or highly protected only cover 2.6% of the global ocean, or approximately one-third of the assessed area.” As of this month, 2.9% of the global ocean is fully or highly protected by an implemented or actively managed MPA.

What is the path forward?

If we are to achieve our collective goal of 30% by 2030, we urgently must alleviate the barriers to implementing MPAs “in the water,” as well as improve overall MPA protection levels to prioritise biodiversity protection.

We must continually encourage the right conditions for MPA implementation, which include:

1. Good governance practices such as transparency, accountability, stakeholder engagement, conflict resolution mechanisms, and science-based decision-making.
2. Recognition of Indigenous peoples and other local rights-holders.
3. Proven, long-term political commitments to actively managing MPAs.
4. Sustainable financing.
5. Overall resilient mechanisms for compliance and regulation enforcement.

We must also persistently advocate for new, future MPAs to guarantee high levels of protection and strict regulation.

The science is clear: fully protected MPAs, where no extractive or destructive activities are permitted and abatable impacts are minimised, are the most effective in allowing our ocean and its wildlife to recover.