Nations across the globe have pledged to protect 30% of their oceans by 2030, and one of the tools to accomplish this is the creation of Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs. The goal of MPAs is to protect marine and coastal ecosystems with high biodiversity or those that provide other environmental benefits. The European Union has made its own 30 by 30 pledge for its waters, along with a separate pledge to ensure 10% of those waters are strictly protected from damaging human activities. How is it going? A new study finds it could be better.

Research recently published in the journal One Earth examined just how well protected the EU’s MPAs were in 2022.

The study authors write, “Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been increasingly used worldwide as a conservation tool for maintaining marine ecosystem integrity, including through the regulation of human activities at sea. Yet, the state of marine ecosystems has shown little improvement or continued deterioration. These developments have led to growing concerns about the benefits of existing MPAs and increasing calls for policies to focus not only on designating new MPAs but also on ensuring their effectiveness to maintain or restore ecosystems.”

How effective are they currently? According to the study, 11.4% of EU waters were within MPAs in 2022, with more than 4,800 units in all. However, 86% of these ecosystems had light, minimal, or no protection from especially harmful human activities, including dredging, mining, or the impacts of fishing gears. As a result, they were found to be incompatible with conservation goals. In all, only 0.2% of MPAs were fully or highly protected.

These issues were found across member states, regions, and the different types of MPAs. As a result, the authors say it’s essential to better regulate these areas to reduce pressures on their ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

The paper does note that some member states, including France and Greece, are making commitments to strengthen their own MPA regulations, while others are working to build coalitions to tackle the issue. This may help with overall participation in MPA formation and regulation enforcement, but more work does need to be done, as human activities are among the biggest threat to oceans.

The authors write, “Ultimately, these EU and national processes could lead to institutional and cultural change and set the context for improved MPA participation and enforcement. This could lead not only to greater ecological outcomes but to increased social benefits (e.g., social and economic capital), as illustrated by several smaller scale examples. It now really depends on member states to address threats to marine ecosystems through different tools, including strongly protected MPAs and means to manage current conflicts.”

Meanwhile, a European Commission spokesperson said it has taken note of the study’s findings and has called on member states to enforce MPA regulations more strictly to achieve the 30 by 30 goal.

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