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Toward representative protection of the world's coasts and oceans—progress, gaps, and opportunities
Article first published online: 1 OCT 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00030.x
©2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Spalding, M. D., Fish, L. and Wood, L. J. (2008), Toward representative protection of the world's coasts and oceans—progress, gaps, and opportunities. Conservation Letters, 1: 217–226. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00030.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 16 DEC 2008
- Article first published online: 1 OCT 2008
- Received 16 July 2008; accepted 24 September 2008.
Keywords:
- Biogeography;
- ecoregional planning;
- gap analysis;
- global assessments;
- marine protected areas;
- marine reserves;
- no-take zones;
- priority-setting
Abstract
Marine conservation lags behind terrestrial in the establishment of protected areas. This was recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity, whose members, in 2004, agreed to establish “comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative” systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2012. Halfway toward this target date, we look at the coverage of the world's 5045 MPAs from a biogeographic perspective. Only 4.09% of continental shelf areas are incorporated within MPAs, although coverage rises to 12.1% in a narrow coastal belt. Approximately half of all marine ecoregions have less than 1% MPA coverage across the shelf, but this is highly variable, and (8%) of ecoregions have >30% protection. Protection is greatest in the tropical realms, while temperate realms remain poorly represented. Given that that many sites lack effective management, even these low estimates of coverage are an optimistic measure of the extent of effective marine conservation.