Marine Protected Areas: Guiding principles and benefits

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are slices of the sea and coastline set aside because of their ecological importance. Creating an MPA requires a holistic approach that includes and integrates ecological, biological, social, and economic considerations. This approach cannot be successful without proper legislation, a functional institutional framework, financial resources, and active engagement of stakeholders. The WWF MedPAN South Project is a four-year collaborative project aimed at improving the management effectiveness of MPAs in the south and east of the Mediterranean and supporting the creation of new ones. A partnership with IAN was formed to create two documents which summarize the lessons learned from case studies in four countries with MPAs—Algeria, Croatia, Tunisia, and Turkey—currently in various stages of development and provide key actions needed to achieve success.

---