Marine Protected Areas

Many of our most valuable and pristine marine habitats, and the fish and other marine creatures that rely on them, are today under threat. The global effort to create more Marine Protected Areas has been growing, but protecting such a vast array of marine areas  requires a broad multinational effort, including the largest governments and the smallest communities working together. A key effort for ocean protection is now the “30 by 30” movement – where groups are working together to try to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. 

It is now estimated that more than 15,000 MPAs protect more than 27 million square kilometers, almost 10.6 million square miles, of ocean. In other words, nearly 7.5 percent of the ocean, an area the size of North America, is under some kind of protection. But we are far from the goal, and time is running short. 

Some of those areas are not fully protected, and ocean conservationists say the MPA rules do not go far enough. Some governments even allow mining and industrial fishing. In the end what we need are fully protected areas covering 30% of the ocean, where no extractive or destructive activities are allowed. This will ultimately result in true marine conservation.