Reuben Cook
These blogs have shown that marine protected areas have a lot of potential, and more people are reading and learning about them due to more information being uploaded to the internet. To summarise, collaboration, funding and good intentions are vital for marine protected areas to be effective, but there are still problems that need to be addressed. Lack of funding, availability of research staff and governmental ignorance are still major blockades, but these can be combatted in several ways. The most important way to do this is through education; if more people knew about the issues facing the oceans and that marine protected areas can really help reverse and mitigate all the damage, then more people could advocate for funding and change by putting pressure on governments and people in power. This is especially important for people who have no scientific background or little interest in marine biology. But everyone cares about protecting and saving the oceans, right? The next step is to involve climate change when planning and creating marine protected areas because no one can deny the effects climate change has and is now having on the health of the oceans.
The paper written by Cannizzo et., al 2025 has five main points to use for all MPAs in the future; 1) know conservation problems in an area, 2) identify climate vulnerabilities, 3) introduce mitigative measures, 4) include local knowledge and advice, 5) back and fund climate research. This advice is very helpful for scientists as it covers all the top steps to be taken for MPAs and how to make them effective. Hopefully, these steps will be included in all other future plans! Thankfully, this is likely because more MPAs are already being planned across the world which provides hope for the health of the oceans, and for all animals and humans that rely on it.
Find out more!
Resiliency Zones: The Future of Marine Conservation Success – Marine Biodiversity Science Center
50 for the Future – Marine Protected Areas | Scottish Wildlife Trust
Anchoring Our Future: The Importance of Marine Protected Areas
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It will be a struggle to achieve whilst politicians and businesses are in climate change denial…….preferring to dump at sea or raid the resources!
As you say, education is key. You must persevere……inform, provide evidence and increase knowledge. Keep going.
🙂 thank you!
Education is vital. People can’t get excited or passionate about the impact climate change is having on the environment if they don’t understand what is really happening. Misinformation also needs to be combated- if the scientific data is constantly being disrupted by deniers and people who are minimising the impact then this encourages people to think it’s not so bad. MPA’S are essential as it helps us to feel that there is something positive that can be done. Really interesting blog, thanks!
Thank you!