The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean

TLDR

MPAs aim to protect biodiversity, support healthy ecosystems, and deliver societal benefits, yet their effectiveness is hampered by confusion over diverse MPA types and inconsistent outcomes. The study introduces the MPA Guide, a science‑driven framework designed to clarify MPA classification and improve design and evaluation. The guide classifies MPAs by establishment stage and protection level, outlines expected biodiversity and human well‑being outcomes, and identifies key conditions for success. Applying the MPA Guide enhances the design, implementation, assessment, and monitoring of MPAs, helping stakeholders achieve conservation goals through evidence‑based practices.

Abstract

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are conservation tools intended to protect biodiversity, promote healthy and resilient marine ecosystems, and provide societal benefits. Despite codification of MPAs in international agreements, MPA effectiveness is currently undermined by confusion about the many MPA types and consequent wildly differing outcomes. We present a clarifying science-driven framework—The MPA Guide—to aid design and evaluation. The guide categorizes MPAs by stage of establishment and level of protection, specifies the resulting direct and indirect outcomes for biodiversity and human well-being, and describes the key conditions necessary for positive outcomes. Use of this MPA Guide by scientists, managers, policy-makers, and communities can improve effective design, implementation, assessment, and tracking of existing and future MPAs to achieve conservation goals by using scientifically grounded practices.