Paper parks and empty promises
Why marine protected areas are not the silver bullet
Several weeks ago, as reported here on Beached, it was announced that the marine protected area (MPA) in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was going to be expanded. Following a five year review, the level of protection was upped from 23% to 36% for this highly biodiverse archipelago.
This was most welcome news. Thankfully, nations are establishing more and more MPAs like this to preserve and restore the world’s oceans at a time when they need more protection than ever.
However, I fear we might be seeing a rise in ‘paper parks’1 – MPAs in name only. Essentially, parks with insufficient protective measures. I worry the good name of MPAs is being diluted by greenwashing attempts from governments around the world, particularly my own in the UK.
If an MPA is created without the sufficient protective measures built in, or lacks any real enforcement, then they are not serving their purpose, and may be giving the false impression that our oceans are being conserved when they’re actually being depleted further.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve done some digging into MPAs around the world. Unfortunately, as it stands, many of these ‘protected areas’ are actually void of any meaningful levels of protection at all. It seems they have been created without sound policy and little to no enforcement to support what measures actually are in place.
As MPAs increase in number around the world, as I hope they do, we must remain vigilant to the protection and enforcement measures they actually guarantee. We must hold governments to account so these conservation ‘efforts’ do not become a bandaid over a bullet hole. A shiny sticker to plaster over the chaos going on below.
What is an MPA?
An MPA is a defined region of the world’s oceans, seas, estuaries or coastal areas, given protection due to their marine resources, ecosystem services, cultural heritage, or fragile habitats. They come in many forms – from wildlife refuges and world heritage sites to research facilities. Around the world environmentalists and NGOs (and Beached) advocate for these different types of MPAs in a bid to achieve the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target of safeguarding 30% of the ocean by 20302.
Why do we advocate for them?
So far, just 8.2% of the global ocean is protected (covering 30 million km2) and only 3% is classified as either highly or fully protected. Though there are a total of 18,802 MPAs3, 61% of the ocean lies outside national jurisdiction making it harder to establish protected zones within these waters.
Of those 18,8024 MPAs, some are well designed and successfully implemented - enriching biodiversity and providing sustainable resources and livelihoods. For example, Madeira manages one of Europe’s largest fully-protected marine reserve, the Selvagens Islands. Designated as such in 1971, Portugal recognised the value of one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the North Atlantic and have been increasing its protection and expanding the reserve ever since. As recently as 2021 it grew to 2,677km2, encompassing unique habitats like mudflats, cover and shallow bays and creating a haven for its numerous IUCN red listed species5. The fully protected status of the islands means no extractive activities can take place within the area and simply entering the reserve requires a permit.
The park follows these strategic objectives:
Preserve, improve, and protect all ecosystems
Promote, coordinate and support research aimed at improving the knowledge of species and habitats
Improve support and knowledge of the general public regarding the conservation site and maintain international appreciation of the conservation value of the site
Manage tourism to add value without diminishing its conservation value
Improve the legal conditions for a more efficient site management
Manage the site effectively under the guidelines
By following these guidelines, the Selvagens Islands ensure marine life can recover and thrive in these waters. If all MPAs were regulated so effectively, every announcement of a new protected zone would be a success story.
What are the different types of MPA?
MPAs take on many different forms. Just as every country is unique, so too are the seas within their borders. With that in mind, adaptability is key.
Examples of the range of MPA types include:
Special protection areas with marine habitats for birds and other species
Ecosystem protection
The conservation of specific natural features
Sites of special scientific interest
Marine nature reserves
No-take zones.
To better protect and restore the unique qualities of each region, i.e., the flora, fauna or cultural features, each MPA should be created with the context of the area in mind. For example, no-take zones prohibit fishing of any kind, allowing for more fish, bigger fish, and different species of fish to populate the area. However, that doesn’t mean no-take zones should be created across the entire ocean as tens of millions of the poorest people on Earth rely on fish as a vital source of food, and the fishing for work.
But if by-laws enforcing MPAs don’t come with strong foundations to uphold the protective measures, how can they ever be truly effective? If MPAs aren’t monitored and maintained to the fullest extent they’re worthless.
Paper parks disguised as marine protection
Unfortunately, in a landmark study Oceana recently uncovered the extent of superficial marine protection within UK waters. New analysis of satellite data showed that in 2023 alone industrial fishing activities had been carried out for a total 100,000 hours within the UK’s 63 offshore MPAs.
A staggering 33,000 of those hours6 involved industrial vessels using bottom trawling methods. Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive fishing methods as it involves dragging heavy gear and nets along the seafloor to collect a greater number of fish. It also scoops a high percentage of non-target marine species, destroying marine habitats as it goes.
Destructive methods such as this are still allowed in the majority of UK MPAs7 despite many created to conserve benthic habitats – aka the rare and delicate ecology living on the seabed. Shockingly, more than a quarter of the potential bottom-towed fishing activity was carried out by just 10 vessels, primarily from the EU.
Prompted by Oceana's 2021 legal challenge, the UK government committed to limiting bottom trawling in MPAs by the end of 2024 and not a minute sooner, it seems. Bylaws are being introduced to protect certain features within sanctuaries on a site-by-site basis, rather than issuing comprehensive prohibitions on all bottom trawling and dredging. The credibility of UK MPAs is now compromised as serious questions have been raised about the effectiveness of their management and enforcement. For now, destructive fishing methods are allowed to continue at an alarming rate in vital and vulnerable waters, resembling what might be the ocean equivalent of greenwashing.
“Industrial fishing is designed to kill marine life as efficiently as possible.”
- Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK.
UK waters aren’t the only corner of the ocean susceptible to a breakdown of protective measures set under the guise of an MPA.
The world famous Great Barrier Reef is protected by multiple laws, in place to preserve one of the most complex natural ecosystems in the world. And yet, several years ago the Queensland government rolled out major fisheries reforms in response to ‘incidental catches’ of at-risk species and overfishing, which caused serious decline of saucer scallop, east coast Australian snapper, pearl perch, black jewfish, and some shark species. Establishing new regulations to cap the amount of and types of fish that can be caught is often on the agenda in the Great Barrier Reef as any illegal activity in the area seriously exacerbates the recurrent mass bleaching incidents on the reef. Unfortunately, even a fully protected and well-designed MPA can’t keep warming ocean temperatures out.
The Natura 2000 is a network of over 2000 MPAs and the legal basis for the establishment of most MPAs in Europe. It is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world but the unfortunate reality is that many protected areas in the region are failing due to their inadequate design and complete lack of monitoring. Vera Coelho, senior director of advocacy for Oceana Europe, explains the issue: “The actual protection of [these] areas is severely lacking. So many simply do not have a management plan at all, and those that do, allow destructive activities to happen, which is complete nonsense. It really calls into question the whole concept of protection.”
This lack of effective oversight and enforcement undermines the very purpose of MPAs, so what can be done?
What can be done?
To truly accomplish their goals and be a powerful tool for ocean conservation, MPAs must be more than mere lines drawn on a map.
Research has shown that the most successful MPAs share several key characteristics: they are large no-take zones that are well-enforced, long-established, and isolated from human activities. Unfortunately, the vast majority currently fall far short of these standards, rendering them obsolete. What they are not is the high level of protection our ocean needs. I suspect that governments are slapping an MPA badge onto an area of the sea to bolster their own green credentials without actually delivering on the promise. AKA: textbook greenwashing.
To address these shortcomings, governments must take decisive action. In the UK, for example, where 34% of UK commercial fish stocks are overfished, what must first be put in place is a complete ban on destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawling and dredging, across all MPAs. To feign protection while allowing such extreme fishing practices is nonsensical and there is no place for it in marine protection advocacy.
As well as this, governments can use tracking technology to enhance the enforcement of MPAs while also combating illegal fishing activities. Studies found that untracked fishing vessels frequently operate within MPAs like the Galapagos Marine Reserve which sees more than five ‘dark’8 vessels fishing in the area every week. The same study by Oceana revealed 27,000 hours across two and a half years of Chinese-flagged vessels in the reserve appearing to have turned off their tracking devices. Sadly, this comes as no surprise as 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels have at some point been invisible to authorities - illegally fishing under the radar. One way of combating this is through the transparency of advanced tracking methods.
Using satellite data and deep-learning models, Global Fishing Watch9 (GFW) compared synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imagery with automatic identification system (AIS) data to pinpoint ‘dark fleet’ fishing activities. This method exposed that 70% of all commercial fishing occurs in Asian waters which undermines the effectiveness of any MPAs in those waters, calls into question sustainable fishing and quota caps, and highlights the limitations of current vessel tracking methods.
New AI tools can then be used to sort through the consequent data. In one instance the AI bot, Aqua, is being developed by scientists to detect ocean activities like illegal fishing and to protect marine life during offshore wind farm construction. The MARLIN system uses underwater sensors for real-time monitoring, potentially reducing the time tracking ships are at sea and their CO₂ emissions by 75%. It’s much quicker and more accurate tech and means fines and punishments can be effectively administered where applicable.
Evidence has shown that community buy-in is also extremely aligned with conservation success. When fishermen lost their livelihoods in Indonesia without any alternative means of work some resorted to illegal activity to get by, which isn't a fair price to pay in the name of shark protection. However, where local needs are considered MPAs are much more likely to thrive. For example, the Cabo Pulmo National Park in Baja California Sur, Mexico, the community was directly involved in the design and enforcement of the MPA and so continue to support and benefit from the reserve.
It might sound like a no-brainer, but it also matters exactly where you put an MPA, especially if it is supposed to protect a certain species. One study which looked at the designation of MPAs as a means to prevent extinction found that the majority of current MPAs aren’t located where they would be most useful and that relatively minor adjustments to their location would be much more beneficial to the threatened species they were created for.
These aren’t complex solutions but they are necessary to ensure our ocean, and those who call it home, receive the protection they deserve. If MPAs are to play any part in ensuring the health of our ocean we have to make sure we reach at least a 30% level of protection in just 6 years.
And not 30% of ‘paper parks’ but well-designed, appropriately located, cared for, and comprehensively monitored MPAs.
Here at Beached we are building a community that can put our brains and resources together to highlight and fund solutions to the problems facing the global ocean and those who call it home. I hope you’ll join our humble community and click subscribe for free or support our work by purchasing the paid subscription.
All Beached posts are free to read but if you can we ask you to support our work through a paid subscription. These directly support the work of Beached and allow us to engage in more conversations with experts in the field of marine conservation and spend more time researching a wider breadth of topics for the newsletters. Paid subscriptions allow us to dedicate more time and effort to creating a community and provide the space for stakeholders to come together, stay abreast of each other’s work and foster improved collaboration and coordination.
One day Beached hope to donate a large percentage of the revenue from paid subscriptions to marine conservation organisations and charities to support their work too. Working together, we can reverse the degradation of our oceans.
Amie 🐋
“A legally established protected area where experts believe current protection activities are insufficient to halt degradation.” - WWF
Scientists agree that by establishing 30% protection for lands, fresh waters and oceans it gives our planet somewhat of a chance against the growing threat of biodiversity loss and climate change.
From as small as the Lundy Marine Reserve in the UK at 3.3km² to as big as the Ross Sea region in Antarctica at 1.55 million km².
You can view the MPAs of the world on this incredible atlas.
Species like the white-faced storm petrels, fin whales, loggerhead sea turtles, sperm whales, dusky grouper, island grouper, and barred hogfish.
This equates to 4 years.
35% of UK waters are protected on paper.
Vessels which have disabled their tracking devices so their activities can't be viewed by the public.
A non-profit started by Google, Oceana and SkyTruth aiming "to provide the world’s first global view of commercial fishing activities."
It seems like a little of that money going to Ukraine and Israel could be shunted for ocean cleanup. Just sayin.