Marine Protected Areas and Climate Change
An IUCN Issues Brief
An overview of the issues, why it is important and what can be done about it. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are areas of the ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims.
MPAs support climate change adaptation and mitigation while providing other ecosystem services.
Currently, 6.35% of the ocean is protected, but only just over 1.89% is covered by exclusively no-take MPAs.
Most existing MPAs do not have enough human and financial resources to properly implement conservation and management measures.
Increased political commitments can help boost the governance of and resources available to MPAs.