Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Special Feature: Editorial

Special Section: Implementation and Management of Marine Protected Areas

Growing awareness of threats to marine ecosystems has led to the search for new conservation and management tools (Palumbi 2002; Palumbi et al. 2003). Increasingly, attention has focused on integrated ecosystem-based approaches, including marine protected areas. These tools are used to address a suite of goals such as conserving biodiversity, supporting fisheries, protecting natural and cultura...

Guidelines for Marine Protected Areas

These Guidelines are designed to be used in association with other publications which cover relevant subjects in greater detail. In particular, users are encouraged to refer to the following: Founded in 1948, The World Conservation Union brings together States, government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organizations in a unique world partnership: over 900 members in all, sprea...

Effect of marine protected areas (MPAs) on consumer diet: MPA fish feed higher in the food chain.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often established to mitigate the effects of overfishing and other human disturbances. In Fiji these are locally managed and, where enforced, have significantly higher coral cover, higher fish biomass, and lower seaweed cover than in the adjacent, unprotected reefs (non-MPAs). We investigated how the isotopic signatures of a common, mid-level consumer, Epinephe...

Governing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in China: towards the repositioning of the central state and the empowerment of local communities

The worldwide costs of marine protected areas.

Declines in marine harvests, wildlife, and habitats have prompted calls at both the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2003 World Parks Congress for the establishment of a global system of marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs that restrict fishing and other human activities conserve habitats and populations and, by exporting biomass, may sustain or increase yields of nearby fis...