TY - JOUR
T1 - Over 80% of the European Union’s marine protected area only marginally regulates human activities
AU - Aminian-Biquet, Juliette
AU - Gorjanc, Sašo
AU - Sletten, Jennifer
AU - Vincent, Timothé
AU - Laznya, Anastasiya
AU - Vaidianu, Natasa
AU - Claudet, Joachim
AU - Young, Juliette
AU - Horta e Costa, Barbara
N1 - Funding: J.A.-B. was supported by the Portuguese funding agency, FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through PhD studentship 2021.06858.BD (https://doi.org/10.54499/2021.06858.BD). J.A.-B. thanks the European Marine Board for financial and in-kind support. B.H.eC. was supported by national funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.), in agreement with the University of Algarve, in the scope of Norma Transitória with research contract DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0038 (https://doi.org/10.54499/DL57/2016/CP1361/CT0038). This study received funding for publication from the Biodiversa MOVE project DivProtect/0009/2021, (https://doi.org/10.54499/DivProtect/0009/2021) and the EU Horizon MARHAB project (CL6-2023-Biodiv 2024–2027); B.H.eC. and J.C. also acknowledge support from these projects. This study received Portuguese national funds from FCT - through projects UIDB/04326/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04326/2020), UIDP/04326/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/04326/2020), and LA/P/0101/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0101/2020). N.V. was supported by the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalization 760054 JUST4MPA, within the PNRR-III-C9-2022 - I8 call. and 760010 – ResPonSe, within the PNRR-III-C9-2022 – I5 call. J.C. acknowledges Fondation de France (MultiNet) and the European Commission (MARHAB) for financial support.
PY - 2024/9/20
Y1 - 2024/9/20
N2 - To address the ongoing deterioration of marine ecosystems and its consequences on livelihood, the European Union (EU) now aims to achieve 30% coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs), with 10% under strict protection per region. Here, we provide the first assessment of protection levels of EU MPAs, describing the level of legal restrictions of activities using the MPA Guide framework. While MPAs covered 11.4% of EU national waters in 2022, 0.2% were fully or highly protected. As much as 86% of MPA coverage showed low levels of protection or would not be considered compatible with conservation objectives, as they allow industrial activities. Most MPA coverage showed minimal protection across member states, sea regions, and legal types of MPAs. The EU MPA network likely provides limited ecological outcomes. Reaching the EU’s 10% strict protection target will require radical changes to the regulation of activities in EU MPAs.
AB - To address the ongoing deterioration of marine ecosystems and its consequences on livelihood, the European Union (EU) now aims to achieve 30% coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs), with 10% under strict protection per region. Here, we provide the first assessment of protection levels of EU MPAs, describing the level of legal restrictions of activities using the MPA Guide framework. While MPAs covered 11.4% of EU national waters in 2022, 0.2% were fully or highly protected. As much as 86% of MPA coverage showed low levels of protection or would not be considered compatible with conservation objectives, as they allow industrial activities. Most MPA coverage showed minimal protection across member states, sea regions, and legal types of MPAs. The EU MPA network likely provides limited ecological outcomes. Reaching the EU’s 10% strict protection target will require radical changes to the regulation of activities in EU MPAs.
KW - Conservation
KW - Level of protection
KW - MPA Guide
KW - Regulations of human activities
KW - EU biodiversity strategy 2030
KW - Marine policy
U2 - 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.07.010
DO - 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.07.010
M3 - Article
SN - 2590-3330
VL - 7
SP - 1614
EP - 1629
JO - One Earth
JF - One Earth
IS - 9
ER -
