A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area that includes primarily marine environment and biodiversity.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines a protected area as:
"A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values."[1][2]
This definition is intended to make it more difficult to claim MPA status for regions where exploitation of marine resources occurs. If there is no defined long-term goal for conservation and ecological recovery and extraction of marine resources occurs, a region is not a marine protected area.[2]
As of June 2019 there are 14,830 marine protected areas with a total area of 27,495,595 km2 (10,616,109 sq mi) representing 7.59% of the ocean.[3]
^"Towards Networks of Marine Protected Areas - The MPA Plan of Action for IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas" (PDF). IUCN. 2008-11-04. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-06-07.
^ ab"When is a Marine Protected Area really a Marine Protected Area". International Union for Conservation of Nature. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^"Protected areas coverage in 2019". www.protectedplanet.net. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
and 29 Related for: List of marine protected areas information
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