Comparison of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Mediterranean and Black Sea Marine Protected Areas: Evidence, Gaps and Ways Forward

The increasing necessity of scientific evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs, as well as acknowledging them, is of relevance for marine policies. This is especially important at the regional level, such as for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. However, since a previous work carried out in 2000, no study has analyzed the most recent findings, or performed a comparative review of the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The present contribution aims to fill this gap by collecting evidences and analyzing MPAs’ socioeconomic impacts, updating and expanding the analysis for the Black Sea. Preliminary results show that MPAs implications on tourism and fishing are important especially in the Mediterranean Sea, whereas in the Black Sea conflicts are likely to arise due to mineral extraction.