only a third of the world’s marine protected areas are effective, study finds

They can take the name of “natural park”, “nature reserve” or even “marine reserve”… In a study published Thursday May 9 in the journal Conservation Letters, American, French and Portuguese scientists analyzed protected maritime areas, these “oceanic areas designed to ensure the long-term conservation of marine ecosystems and the services they provide to human societies”. Thus, in the 100 largest areas in the world, representing 90% of the total surface area of ​​marine protected areas, “a quarter of [leur] area is devoid of regulation and management”, warns the CNRS in its press release. A quarter where the marine area “only relies on declaratives”, Who “does not exist in facttranslated to franceinfo Joachim Claudet, co-author of the article and CNRS research director at Island research center and environmental observatory (Criobe). Either because countries are cheating or because protection processes are underway.”

And in only “a third” of the surface of these marine protected areas, the protection is judged “effective”. That is to say, the activities “not compatible with the conservation of biodiversity” are regulated or even prohibited. Like industrial fishing, mining or even bottom trawling, “as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature”, quotes Joachim Claudet. These areas are in green in the map below, produced with data from the study.

For France, the situation is no better. For example, while it declares 60% of its Mediterranean waters as protected, only 0.1% is effectively protected. On the western coast, 40% of French waters in the Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea should be protected, but 0.01% actually is, according to researchers. Finally, if, in Mayotte, the entire French Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is protected, “0.03% is in full or high protection”reports Joachim Claudet.

It is not enough to look at quantity, but we must look at the quality of protection. Only marine protected areas from which benefits can be expected should be taken into account, otherwise the tool and the target are misguided.

Joachim Claudet, research director at CNRS

at franceinfo

These figures are alarming, while in December 2022 in Montreal, all States committed, during COP15 biodiversity, to protect, by the 2030 COP, 30% of the land and oceans of the planet. “That worries me. We are not protecting what we think we are protecting and we will not have the expected socio-economic and environmental benefits,” alerts Joachim Claudet, specifying that a “effective area protects resources and can therefore benefit the fishing sector”. To monitor the count, researchers therefore call for a review of the methods of evaluating and monitoring areas to pay more attention to the quality of the protection provided. And not to be counted as “marine protected area” areas where “the level of protection is unknown or insufficient”.

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