Understanding the MPA Guide

I’ve worked for The Pew Charitable Trusts since 2008 to designate new marine protected areas and shark protections.?Since my first day on the job, the global growth of marine protected areas has been exponential, expanding from less than one percent of the ocean to inching towards ten percent today.?But not all marine protected areas are created the same.?In my career I’ve advocated for some of the largest, most highly protected marine sanctuaries on the planet, but some protected areas are poorly designed and allow all sorts of damaging activities, from industrial fishing to deep sea mining.

I’ve also been involved in efforts to set global targets for protecting the ocean.?In 2016, I worked with several of my colleagues at Pew to write, find co-sponsors for, negotiate, and deliver a resolution at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature calling for protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.

The downside of these global goals, unfortunately, is that they can create a perverse incentive to achieve conservation victory by creative accounting.?Our ability to achieve 30% is going to be greatly influenced by what is meant by “protected” or “conserved,” and when does something going from being “not protected” to “having an intention to protect,” to being “protected on the water.”?Unfortunately, these definitions have been up to various interpretations in the past, but thanks to the work of Pew and others, we now have much more clarity on how to understand ocean protections.

Today, “The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean” published in the journal Science. ?Written with 42 co-authors from 38 institutions across 6 continents, the MPA Guide is the Rosetta Stone for understanding marine protected areas.?It provides an international framework for determining how much of the ocean is protected—something that is difficult to calculate now because of the lack of international consensus around what “protected” means for marine habitats – and establishes clear guidance on the conservation outcomes different types of protected areas can provide. Understanding these expected outcomes can help scientists, advocates, and policymakers make better decisions about how best to protect the ocean and safeguard the unique cultural traditions tied to the seas.

I encourage you to read the paper, read this blog I penned with my Pew colleagues Matt Rand and Johnny Briggs, and give a listen to this podcast I recorded with Speak Up For Blue.