Marine protected areas will boost global conservation

Abstract

Subject Large marine protected areas and conservation. Significance The first-ever UN Ocean Conference, to be held in New York from June 5-9, will focus global political attention on the state of the world’s oceans. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Targets set a target of protecting 10% of the global marine environment by 2020, which was reaffirmed in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015. While only 4% of the world’s oceans are currently designated as marine protected areas (MPAs), recent years have seen a rapid growth in the creation of ‘large’ MPAs of over 100,000 square kilometres, with a growing number of countries closing large portions of their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) to fishing in the name of biodiversity conservation. A separate UN negotiating process on establishing MPAs in international waters is also underway and will issue a report at the end of 2017. Impacts Without the further creation of large MPAs, there is little chance that the CBD goal to protect 10% of the marine environment will be met. New large MPA commitments are likely to be announced at the UN Ocean Conference. The size of the ‘no-take’ area completely closed to fishing will be an important indicator of MPA effectiveness. Ongoing legal processes to determine the ‘extended continental shelf’ claims by states will increase their jurisdiction over ocean areas.