Marine Protected Areas
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designated regions in marine environments aimed at preserving natural and cultural resources through various levels of legal protection. With over 1,700 MPAs established in U.S. waters, these areas serve as crucial responses to challenges like pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction. MPAs can differ widely in their objectives, management practices, and restrictions on human activities, which has led to the development of a functional classification system to better understand their purposes and effectiveness.
Common goals of MPAs include conserving biodiversity, protecting critical habitats, and supporting sustainable fisheries. Moreover, some MPAs are established as No Take Zones, where exploitation of resources is strictly prohibited—a measure that can sometimes conflict with the interests of local communities. International efforts also contribute to marine protection, with various countries and organizations working to expand MPA coverage globally. As of 2024, MPAs represented only 1 percent of the world's oceans, highlighting the ongoing need for enhanced conservation efforts. Prominent examples of MPAs include Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which are recognized for their ecological significance and biodiversity.
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Subject Terms
Marine Protected Areas
A marine protected area (MPA) is: "any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein" (MPA Executive Order 13158, May 2000). Established in the face of global ocean health declines and increasing interest in ecosystem management, more than 1,700 MPAs exist in US waters, managed by a variety of legal authorities and government programs. The various MPAs differ substantially in their purpose, level of protection, human use restrictions, and management approaches. The numerous types of MPAs have posed challenges to policymakers. In response, a functional classification system was developed by the National Marine Protected Areas Center to depict what each site is intended to protect and how and to what extent it achieves that protection.
Other countries have also established national or international MPAs. According to the Marine Conservation Institute's Atlas of Marine Protection, in 2024, MPAs accounted for 1 percent of the world's oceans.
Background
The need for enhanced protection of marine environments can be attributed to several factors that are consequences of human industrial development and growth. These include pollution, overfishing, destructive fishing techniques, rapid coastal development, and ocean acidification resulting from elevated levels of carbon dioxide, overpopulation, and disruptions of marine life. MPAs include seas, oceans, Great Lakes, coral reefs, coastal areas, intertidal zones, and estuaries. The five characteristics by which MPAs are classified are:
- Conservation Focus
- Level of Protection
- Permanence of Protection
- Constancy of Protection
- Scale of Protection
The Conservation Focus depicts a site's conservation objectives and goals, and the characteristics of the site the MPA status aims to conserve. Some common intended purposes of marine protected areas include: protecting natural habitat from overfishing; protecting shipwrecks for marine research and education; conserving biodiversity for use in research and education; protecting marine mammals; preservation of a site recognized for its cultural and natural values; overpopulating an area with fish to increase population in the surrounding unprotected areas and support local fisheries, which ultimately maintain a healthy fish population within the MPA; protecting an area in light of its contribution to surrounding ecosystems; restricting oil and gas mining, ship transit, or construction; and restricting tourism.
Some common MPA terminologies include: Specially Protected Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ); each distinction entails specific restrictions. The highest level of protection and most restrictive categorization is the No Take Zone (NTZ). A conservation site designated NTZ means that human activities are severely limited and all types of exploitation are forbidden. While NTZs have been praised by environmentalists, they have on occasion been criticized for impacting the lifestyles of indigenous peoples.
MPAs also vary in management systems, which can include seasonal or temporary restrictions, i.e., restricted fishing season or temporary area closure to allow a reducing species to recover. Multiple-use MPAs, considered highly effective, receive more than one type of protection, i.e., a no-take zone in the most important section of the site and less protection for the surrounding area. While these approaches are largely under government or agency jurisdiction, community-managed MPAs enable local communities to partly or completely manage a given resource with the support of youth, scientists, researchers, local fishermen, or others who rely on the resource for business, recreation, or tourism.
Overview
Some of the national and international governing bodies involved in establishing and setting parameters for MPAs include:
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
National Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Marine Sanctuaries Program (NMSP)
National Ocean Service (NOS)
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
In the United States, on May 26, 2000, the National Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center was established to develop a national system of marine protected areas and to serve as a resource to all programs responsible for the health of the nation's oceans. A collaboration between the NOAA and the Department of the Interior, the MPA Center's stated goals are to build and maintain a national system of marine protected areas, to improve MPA effectiveness and stewardship, to facilitate national and international coordination of MPA activities, to enhance research opportunities, to promote cultural heritage, to identify current gaps in ocean resources protection, to sustain fisheries, to plan for diverse ocean uses, to increase support for marine conservation, and to maintain an MPA virtual library that will provide articles, websites, and conference information concerning MPA issues and management. In addition, projects undertaken by National MPA Center partners such as scientists, universities, nongovernment organizations, and businesses continue to work to meet the goals of Executive Order 13158.
Efforts toward establishment of MPAs are ongoing. Internationally, with the 2014 expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, MPA coverage of global ocean waters rose to 2.09 percent. However, only 0.01 percent of the world's total oceanic area was designated a "no take zone," with the long-term objective of 20 percent to 30 percent. In March 2015, the United Kingdom authorized funding to create what was at the time the world's largest contiguous marine protected reserve in the area of the Pitcairn Islands. Other countries have also established action plans and national targets, while the UN Council has called for countries to collaborate and establish effective regional conservation plans. The official 2017 establishment of the Ross Sea Protected Area in Antarctica was a major international achievement, covering over 1.5 million square kilometers with 72 percent fully protected.
Among the most prominent global marine protected areas are: Australia's Great Barrier Reef, British Columbia's Bowie Seamount, Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Indian Ocean's Chagos Archipelago, the Republic of Kiribati's Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, and the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals, covering areas of the seas of France, Italy, and Monaco.
Bibliography
Atlas of Marine Protection, Marine Conservation Institute, 2018, www.mpatlas.org/map/mpas/. Accessed 7 Jun. 2018.
Christie, P., and A.T. White. 2007. "Best Practices for Improved Governance of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas." Coral Reefs26:1047-56. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. Accessed 7 Jun. 2018.
"Definition & Classification System for U.S. Marine Protected Areas" (PDF). Web. 10 Jan. 2016. marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov/pdf/helpful-resources/factsheets/mpa‗classification‗may2011.pdf.
Executive Order 13158 of May 26, 2000. Presidential Documents. Federal Register /Vol. 65, No. 105: May 31, 2000. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
"Marine Protected Area." National Geographic, 8 Oct. 2024, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-protected-area/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
"Marine Protected Areas in the UK."Joint Nature Conservation Committee. July 2015.Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
"Marine Protected Areas." National Marine Protected Areas Center, National Ocean Service, 27 Oct. 2017, marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov/. Accessed 7 Jun. 2018.
"Pitcairn Islands to get world's largest single marine reserve." The Guardian.com. 18 March 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
The National Ocean Service (NOS). Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/>.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Web, 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.noaa.gov/>.
"World’s Largest Single Marine Reserve Created in Pacific." National Geographic.com. 18 March 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.