Welcome and Executive Summary

The ocean sustains life on Earth.

It always has. Many people around the world don’t realize this truth, because they live far from the water. But for many others, a direct connection to the ocean and its life-giving resources is essential for daily life – for food, livelihoods, culture, spirituality, nutrition, and the very oxygen we breathe. 

But recently, people who know the ocean best have observed worrisome trends: fewer, smaller fish to catch. Bigger, more destructive waves and floods. Sea life washed up on the beach, because the water where they live became too low in oxygen for them to breathe. Marine mammals starved from eating plastic instead of food. Fish and other sea life are dying or moving in ways they haven’t before to escape temperatures that are too warm or other stressful conditions – and moving away from the places where people rely on catching them for food.

How do we solve these problems? What can we do now, so that we can continue enjoying a bountiful ocean, and our children and children’s children know this life-giving ocean, too? Our decisions today have the power to shape the future – one where a healthy ocean thrives, supporting marine life, livelihoods, and the well-being of communities worldwide, or alternatively a future where threats like overexploitation and global warming wreak havoc on our daily lives. Which do we choose? And once committed to a future of a healthy ocean and healthy people, what steps do we take?

There are many ways that people can revive and replenish our ocean – from curbing pollution (carbon, plastic, or otherwise), to eating only sustainable seafood, to helping inspire, love, and respect the ocean in the next generation. Good ocean management leads to positive outcomes for people and nature. Many different management tools are available to facilitate accomplishing these goals. But there is one management tool that has proven to be particularly effective for reviving entire ocean ecosystems to support thriving marine life: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). 

This MPA Handbook is a comprehensive guide to understanding and using MPAs to solve the urgent challenges that face the ocean and humankind. MPAs are the most effective mechanism to restore marine life and all the benefits it provides to people and the rest of life on our planet. When used well, with the health of ocean life and the rights and well-being of people in mind, MPAs are a key solution that can be used from local to global scales. An effective and equitable MPA can help build resilience to global warming, recover habitat degradation and depleted fish stocks so that people can continue to feed and support their families, and improve economies and bring new income to communities. 

Whether you are a fisher looking for ways to replenish depleted fish populations in your area, a diver frustrated with the paucity of marine life at your favorite dive sites, a seasoned MPA practitioner looking for ways to improve your own MPA’s effectiveness, a local leader responsible for supporting your region’s economy and livelihoods, or a newcomer to ocean conservation just looking for ways to improve the economy and livelihoods of people in your community, this MPA Handbook offers a wealth of information, tools, and practical insights to support your efforts. 

What follows is guidance for creating, communicating, resourcing, and managing an MPA to match your community’s goals. You’ll find guiding principles, strategies, and questions for consideration, with real-world examples to illustrate key concepts and extra resources for further understanding. It aims to help unlock the potential of MPAs to safeguard ocean health and human wellbeing now and forever.

Welcome aboard! We’re glad you’re here!

MPA Handbook Language Use

Language used to convey conservation concepts can differ across geography, culture, and context. Throughout this globally-applicable resource, we aim to use language that can be broadly understood by people with many different backgrounds. You might use different words in your region for similar concepts. For example, the word “sanctuary” may mean conservation or protection for people in one region of the world, while it may have a more religious or sacred connotation for people in another. You may have heard different terms for the concepts described in this MPA Handbook that are more applicable for your region and various contexts. Throughout this MPA Handbook, we use globally-agreed terminology where possible.