TY - JOUR

T1 - A diverse portfolio of marine protected areas can better advance global conservation and equity

AU - Gill, David A.

AU - Lester, Sarah E.

AU - Free, Christopher M.

AU - Pfaff, Alexander

AU - Iversen, Edwin

AU - Reich, Brian J.

AU - Yang, Shu

AU - Ahmadia, Gabby

AU - Andradi-Brown, Dominic A.

AU - Darling, Emily S.

AU - Edgar, Graham J.

AU - Fox, Helen E.

AU - Geldmann, Jonas

AU - Le, Duong Trung

AU - Mascia, Michael B.

AU - Mesa-Gutiérrez, Roosevelt

AU - Mumby, Peter J.

AU - Veverka, Laura

AU - Warmuth, Laura M.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely used for ocean conservation, yet the relative impacts of various types of MPAs are poorly understood. We estimated impacts on fish biomass from no-take and multiple-use (fished) MPAs, employing a rigorous matched counterfactual design with a global dataset of >14,000 surveys in and around 216 MPAs. Both no-take and multiple-use MPAs generated positive conservation outcomes relative to no protection (58.2% and 12.6% fish biomass increases, respectively), with smaller estimated differences between the two MPA types when controlling for additional confounding factors (8.3% increase). Relative performance depended on context and management: no-take MPAs performed better in areas of high human pressure but similar to multiple-use in remote locations. Multiple-use MPA performance was low in high-pressure areas but improved significantly with better management, producing similar outcomes to no-take MPAs when adequately staffed and appropriate use regulations were applied. For priority conservation areas where no-take restrictions are not possible or ethical, our findings show that a portfolio of well-designed and well-managed multiple-use MPAs represents a viable and potentially equitable pathway to advance local and global conservation.

AB - Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely used for ocean conservation, yet the relative impacts of various types of MPAs are poorly understood. We estimated impacts on fish biomass from no-take and multiple-use (fished) MPAs, employing a rigorous matched counterfactual design with a global dataset of >14,000 surveys in and around 216 MPAs. Both no-take and multiple-use MPAs generated positive conservation outcomes relative to no protection (58.2% and 12.6% fish biomass increases, respectively), with smaller estimated differences between the two MPA types when controlling for additional confounding factors (8.3% increase). Relative performance depended on context and management: no-take MPAs performed better in areas of high human pressure but similar to multiple-use in remote locations. Multiple-use MPA performance was low in high-pressure areas but improved significantly with better management, producing similar outcomes to no-take MPAs when adequately staffed and appropriate use regulations were applied. For priority conservation areas where no-take restrictions are not possible or ethical, our findings show that a portfolio of well-designed and well-managed multiple-use MPAs represents a viable and potentially equitable pathway to advance local and global conservation.

KW - causal inference

KW - conservation

KW - fishing restrictions

KW - marine protected areas

KW - quasi-experiment

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2313205121

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2313205121

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38408235

AN - SCOPUS:85186750089

VL - 121

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

SN - 0027-8424

IS - 10

M1 - e2313205121

ER -