What is a Marine Protected Area?

Marine Protected Areas Definitions
Marine Protected Areas, are geographically defined places where human activity is restricted in the interest of conserving the natural environment. The IUCN defines a marine protected area as,

"'Any area of the intertidal or subtidal terrain, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment.'"

The United States Executive Order 13158 in May 2000 established MPAs, defining them as; "'Any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein.'"

Most definitions suggest that in order to be designated a Marine Protected Area, the site must be set aside principally for conservation. Several types of MPAs can be distinguished:
 * A totally marine area with no significant terrestrial parts.
 * An area containing both marine and terrestrial components, which can vary between two extremes; those that are predominantly maritime with little land (for example, an atoll would have a tiny island with a significant maritime population surrounding it), or a marine area that is mostly terrestrial. In the case of the latter, whether or not it is considered a 'Marine' Protected Area is largely debatable.
 * Marine ecosystems that contain land and intertidal (land that is frequently covered by water) components only. For example, a mangrove forest would contain no open sea or ocean marine environment, but its river-like marine ecosystem nevertheless constitutes the definition.

The Convention on Biological Diversity attempted to solve the uncertainty in classifying Marine Protected Areas by defining the broader term of 'Marine and Coastal Protected Area' (MCPA);

"'Any defined area within or adjacent to the marine environment, together with its overlying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by legislation or other effective means, including custom, with the effect that its marine and/or coastal biodiversity enjoys a higher level of protection than its surroundings.'"

Different MPA definitions may be altered by differentiating factors, for example, some may need at least some part of the area lies below low tide, while others require only that it be at least near the shoreline. Others attempt to categorize MPAs on the human activities that are restricted or the goals that led to the designation of the site. The diverse criteria that are used to define MPAs are complex, and often lead to confusion as to the management and usage of marine protected areas. Protection level as used in the MPAtlas is used to provide some understanding as to the extent that marine life maybe taken from a given MPA.


 * World Heritage Site (WHS) – an area exhibiting extensive natural or cultural history. As of February 2012, there are 45 Marine World Heritage Sites.
 * Man and the Biosphere – This UNESCO program promotes "a balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere." Under article 4, biosphere reserves must “encompass a mosaic of ecological systems”, and thus combine terrestrial, coastal, or marine ecosystems. In structure they are similar to Multiple-use MPAs, with a core area ringed by different degrees of protection.
 * Ramsar Site – These sites must meet certain criteria for the definition of "Wetland" to become part of a global system. These sites do not necessarily receive protection, but are indexed by importance for later recommendation to an agency that could designate it a protected area.

While 'area' refers to a single contiguous location, terms such as "network", "system", and "region" that group MPAs are not always consistently employed."System" is generally more often used to refer to an individual MPA, whereas "region" is defined by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre as: "'A collection of individual MPAs operating cooperatively, at various spatial scales and with a range of protection levels that are designed to meet objectives that a single reserve cannot achieve.'"

At the Convention on Biological Diversity 2004, the agency agreed to the use of "network" on a global level, and the use of system on the national and regional level. The global level is to be used as a mechanism to establish regional and local systems but carries no authority or mandate, and all of the work lies within the "system".

A No Take Zone (NTZ), are areas such as New Zealand's marine reserves, where all forms of exploitation are prohibited and severely limits human activities. Generally, a No Take Zone can cover the whole MPA, or specific vulnerable portions that enjoy elevated protection. Related terms include; Specially Protected Area (SPA), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the United Kingdom's Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ), or Area of Special Conservation (ASC) etc. which each have specific restrictions associated with them.

Management and restrictions
Typical restrictions in MPAs include ones on fishing, oil and gas mining and tourism. Other restrictions may limit the use of ultrasonic devices like SONAR, development, construction and other activities. Some fishing restrictions include what are called "no-take" zones, which means that no fishing is allowed. Less than 1% of MPAs are no-take in the United States. Ship transit can also be regulated or banned, either as a preventive measure or to avoid direct disturbance to certain species. The degree to which environmental regulations affect shipping varies according to whether MPAs are located in territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, or the high seas. The law of the sea regulates these limits.

Most MPAs have been located in territorial waters, where enforcement can be ensured. However, MPAs can also be established in a state's exclusive economic zone and in international waters. For example, Italy, France and Monaco in 1999 jointly established a cetacean sanctuary in the Ligurian Sea named the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals. This sanctuary includes both national and international waters. Both the CBD and IUCN recommend that a variety of possible management systems be considered when designing a protected area system. They advocate that MPAs be seen as one of many "nodes" in a network of protected areas. The following are the most commonly used individual types of management systems for MPAs;

Seasonal and Temporary Management Activities, most critically fishing, are restricted seasonally or temporarily to let the area recover. Seasonal limits are put in place to protect fish populations during vital periods like spawning season.

Multiple-use Increasingly, multiple use MPAs are the most common and arguably the most effective type of MPA. These areas employ two or more types, which enables flexibility for the most important sections get the highest protection. A common practice is to make the most critical area a No Take Zone, and surrounding it with areas of lesser protections.

Community involvement and related approaches Community-managed MPAs empower local communities to manage marine resources partially or completely independent of the governmental jurisdictions they inhabit. They are not always officially recognized, depending on the political environment. Empowering communities to manage resources can lower conflict levels and help fisheries recover. This approach can provide direct influence for all involved, including subsistence and commercial fishers, scientists, tourism businesses, youths and others.

MPA Networks

“A group of MPAs that interact with one another ecologically and/or socially form a network.” These MPA Networks are intended to connect individuals and MPAs through the ecosystem and promote education and cooperation among various administrations and people with invested interest in the state of the MPA. “MPA networks are, from the perspective of resource users, intended to address both environmental and socio-economic needs, complementary ecological and social goals and designs need greater research and policy support.”. Some communities associated with MPAs in the Philippines connect with one another to share information about MPAs, creating an even larger network through the social communities’ support. Emerging or established MPA networks can be found in Southeast Australia, Belize, the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Mexico.

Notable marine protected areas

 * The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia.
 * The California Network of MPAs in the United States.
 * The Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys, USA.
 * The Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area, a British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean.
 * The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, USA.
 * The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, Kiribati
 * The Galapagos Marine Reserve, Ecuador

Effectiveness
Managers and scientists use geographic information systems and remote sensing to map and analyze MPAs. NOAA Coastal Services Center compiled an "Inventory of GIS-Based Decision-Support Tools for MPAs." The report focuses on GIS tools with the highest utility for MPA processes. Remote sensing uses advances in aerial photography image capture, satellite imagery, acoustic data, and radar imagery.

MPAs have also been recognized as an effective tool to maintain localized fish populations. The general concept is to create an area where the local populations of sea creatures can thrive and create a localized over population. When this over population occurs, the extra creatures will expand into the surrounding areas, known as spillover. This, in turn, helps support the local fisheries and the areas surrounding the MPA, while maintaining a healthy population. Such uses of the MPA have been seen in many areas around the world, but most commonly in very densely population areas like coral reefs.

Marine Protected Areas are an especially important management tool for coral reef systems worldwide. Over the past two centuries, coral reef systems have been in great decline due to overfishing and pollution. Currently, 30% of the world’s reefs are already severely damaged, and approximately 60% of the reefs will be lost by 2030 if actions are not taken to recover and protect them. Coral Reef Systems are also facing extinction due to changes in the chemistry of the ocean and the rising ocean temperatures, both caused by global climate change. Marine Protected Areas are currently the best tool for managing the impacts to coral reefs, with “No Take Zones” acting as the most effective form of management. Though Marine Protected Areas and No-Take Zones cannot stop the effects of global climate change, these management tools can protect the coral reefs from human damage and exploitation, allowing the reefs and the species they house to build resilience to recover to the changes brought by global climate change more effectively and rapidly.

Spillover Effect and other unexpected results
The "Spillover Effect" occurs when the fish stocks within an MPA are replenished and spill over into the non-protected areas. One clear example of this is at Goad Island Bay in New Zealand. As one of the oldest no-take reserves in the world (it was established in 1977), research gathered at Goat Bay has overwhelmingly shown evidence of the spillover effect. In fact, "Spillover and larval export--the drifting of millions of eggs and larvae beyond the Reserve--have become central concepts of marine conservation" (National Geographic, 2007). This positively impacts commercial fishermen in surrounding areas.

Another unexpected result of MPAs is their impact on predatory marine species. In general, studies show that bio-diversity increases in MPAs. However, sometimes conditions within a reserve favor an increase in predator populations. When this occurs, prey populations decrease. One study showed that in 21 out of 39 cases "tropic cascades," caused a decrease in herbivores, which led to an increase in the quantity of plant life. (This occurred in the Malindi Kisite and Watamu Marian National Parks in Kenya; the Leigh Marine Reserve in New Zealand; and Brackett's Landing Conservation Area in the U.S.).

Criteria
Both CBD and IUCN have criteria for setting up and maintaining MPA networks, which emphasize 4 factors:
 * Adequacy&mdash;ensuring that the sites have the size, shape, and distribution to ensure the success of selected species.
 * Representability&mdash;protection for all of the local environment's biological processes
 * Resilience&mdash;the resistance of the system to natural disaster, such as a tsunami or flood.
 * Connectivity&mdash;maintaining population links across nearby MPAs.

Misconceptions
There are some misconceptions on what an MPA really does and who controls them. One misconception is that all MPAs are no-take or no-fishing areas. The reality is that less than 1 percent of US waters are no-take areas. MPAs can be used for a lot of different uses such as consumption fishing, diving, and other activities. Another misconception is that most MPAs are federally managed. The reality is that MPAs are managed unter a very complex system consisting of hundreds of laws and jurisdictions. They can be managed in state, commonwealth, territory, and tribal waters. A third misconception is that there is a federal mandate to dedicate a set percentage of ocean to MPAs. In reality there is no set percentage goal written in law. The mandate simply calls for an evaluation of current MPAs and create a public resource on current MPAs in existence.

Criticism
Some existing and proposed MPAs have been criticized by local indigenous populations, and their supporters, as impinging on land usage rights. One example of this is the Chagos Protected Area in the Chagos Islands, contested by Chagossians deported from their homeland in 1965 by the British in the creation of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). According to Wikileaks CableGate documents, the UK proposed that the BIOT become a "marine reserve" with the aim of preventing the former inhabitants from returning to their lands and to protect the joint United Kingdom and United States military base on Diego Garcia Island.

One alternative to imposing MPAs on an indigenous population is through the use of Indigenous Protected Areas, such as those in Australia.

Recent research
In 2010, a group of scientists reported that fish larvae can drift on ocean currents and reseed populations at a distant location. This finding demonstrates, for the first time, what scientists have long suspected but have never proven, that fish populations can be connected to distant populations through the process of larval drift.

The fish they chose to investigate was the yellow tang, because when a larva of this fish find a suitable reef it stays in the general area for the rest of its life. Thus, it is only as drifting larvae that the fish can migrate significant distances from where they are born. The tropical yellow tang is much sought after by the aquarium trade. By the late 1990s, their populations were collapsing, so in an attempt to save them nine MPAs were established off the coast of Hawaii. Now, through the process of larval drift, fish from the MPAs are establishing themselves in different locations, and the fishery is recovering. "We've clearly shown that fish larvae that were spawned inside marine reserves can drift with currents and replenish fished areas long distances away," said one of the authors, Mark Hixon. "This is a direct observation, not just a model, that successful marine reserves can sustain fisheries beyond their borders."

Marine Protected Areas
a.	What is an MPA?

b.	Why are MPAs Important?

c.	The case for MPAs

d.	Types of MPAs

i.	Coastal MPAs ii. Very Large Marine Protected Areas (VLMPAs) iii. MPAs in EEZs iv. High Seas MPAs v.	Pelagic MPAs vi. Etc.

e.	De-facto MPAs

f.	Candidate MPAs (link)

g.	MPA Protection level (link)

h.	MPA Effectiveness rating (link)

i.	Literature on MPAs (link)

j.	Management of Marine Protected Areas

i.	How MPAs are managed ii. Effective management

k.	Monitoring and Enforcement of Marine Protected Areas

i.	Monitoring ii. Enforcement iii. Surveillance and enforcement options

l.	Marine Conservation Institute and MPAs

m.	Other organizations working on MPAs

n.	What you can do for MPAs (link)