Trends and Challenges in Establishing and Managing Marine Protected Areas

6/8/20233 min read

brown fish underwater
brown fish underwater

Pioneering MPAs were generally extensions of protected coasts; only in 1994, with the promulgation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, was there a clear legal basis for the establishment of MPAs (Maestro et al 2019).

The ecosystem approach toward MPAs, which urges conservation and the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources, gained prominence with the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005 (Maestro et al 2019).

In 2010, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity pledged to conserve no less than 10% of marine and coastal regions by 2020 (CBD 2010). (N.B.: Currently, MPA coverage stands at 8.16% (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, 2023)). An abrupt increase in the spatial coverage of MPAs ensued, achieved largely by the formation of enormous MPAs in secluded territories containing scant human settlement (Fox et al 2012). As of 2019, the 20 largest MPAs accounted for 70% of the protected area (Maestro et al 2019).

In the world’s largest MPA, Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area, covering over 400,000 square kilometres, merchant fishing has been absolutely prohibited since 2015, although doubts have arisen about practical enforcement of the ban especially given the rise of catchment by drifting (IUCN).

The no-take marine reserves of Sumilon and Apo Islands in the Philippines are brilliant examples of the effectiveness of local empowerment and co-management of MPAs in delivering synergistic conservation and socio-economic objectives. In those reserves, with training and support by a local university, MPAs were put in place by local and municipal ordinances and remain collaboratively co-managed between local fisher communities, local authorities, and the national government (Alcala and Russ 2006).

Generally, the successful establishment of MPAs in a country positively correlates with three factors – the length of the country’s coastline, its Human Development Index score, and the level of investment in conservation in its coastal zones (Fox et al 2012).

It would therefore appear that marine conservation efforts can be overshadowed or delegitimized by, on one hand, ongoing socio-economic struggles concerning basic life expectancy, literacy, and purchasing power (Fox et al 2012), and, on the other hand, limited capacity in implementation, training, and manpower (Maestro et al 2019). Inadequate national or international recognition and funding may also curtail political will and support for MPAs, thereby impeding the establishment and effective administration of MPAs.

Presently, MPAs have been predominantly set up by national governments and within domestic jurisdictions; areas beyond national jurisdiction (“ABNJ”) remain largely excluded despite the fact that they constitute more than 60% of the world’s ocean surface (Maestro et al 2019). The obstacles with establishing and managing MPAs in ABNJ and the high seas are cross- and multi-jurisdictional in nature. Our challenges are to gain deeper understanding of those areas as well as to negotiate the balance between conservation values and development pressures (Maestro et al 2019).

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