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MARINE PROTECTED

AREAS AND CLIMATE

CHANGE

By reducing human factors on ecosystems,
MPAs could improve their chances of survival
with regards to the consequences of climate
change.

Well managed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
can play a key role as watchdogs to isolate, track
and understand the specific effects of climate
change. Their potential role as carbon sinks
should lead us to identify and create future MPAs
specifically for this role, and not just biodiversity.
We therefore need to design MPAs as shelters
but also as examples of biodiversity facing the
effects of climate change. Islands require special
attention as they combine vulnerability, opportu-
nity and precious traditional knowledge. Small,
locally managed marine areas must be better
integrated, and if possible interconnected within
larger geographic networks to allow MPAs to be
both ecologically resilient and socially relevant.

Moreover, the ambition to create larger sites
and encourage improved collaboration between
them is vital to cover the required surface areas
with different species, particularly migratory spe-
cies. Anticipation is also important, using new
technologies to model different scenarios in the
near future and protecting regions which have
not yet been listed.

In light of current threats, including threats in
zones which have already been specifically de-
signated, improved and quicker action is still re-
quired, particularly at high sea to allow marine
protected areas to deliver their potential and
make oceans and local residents more resilient
to climate change.