Area-Based Management Tools, Including Marine Protected Areas

Abstract

Area based management tools (ABMTs) such as marine protected areas (MPAs) are recognized by scientists and the international community as essential to promote the conservation and management of oceans and fisheries. They have been shown to enhance population resilience to climate-driven disturbance. In 2005 the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 adopted a target MPA coverage of 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by 2012. In 2010 it extended the target deadline to 2020. By then the global MPA coverage was just over 1 percent. Recent statistics are more encouraging, if only slightly: a UNEP report released in November 2014 found that 3.4 percent of the global ocean is now protected. In any event 10 percent is not enough. A recent review of the scientific literature suggests that the figure needs to be 30 percent.