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]
The listed MPAs were individually proclaimed. Some were later consolidated with adjacent MPAs and may not still be generally referred to by the original name.
UK Overseas Territories [22]
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports and shipping, recreation, scientific research and Indigenous traditional use. Fishing and the removal of artefacts or wildlife is strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific defined shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and best known coral reef ecosystem in the world. Its reefs, almost 3000 in total, represent about 10 per cent of all the coral reef areas in the world. It supports an amazing variety of biodiversity, providing a home to thousands of coral and other invertebrate species, bony fish, sharks, rays, marine mammals, marine turtles, sea snakes, as well as algae and other marine plants.
Surat Thani, often shortened to Surat, is the largest of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It lies on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. Surat Thani means 'city of good people', a title given to the city by King Vajiravudh ; Surat Thani is therefore the sole province in Southern Thailand for which the native name is in the Central Thai language.
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations, MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish. The value of MPA to mobile species is unknown.
Hat Chao Mai National Park is a protected area located in the Sikao and Kantang Districts of Trang Province, Thailand. It is a marine national park. Established in 1981, it is an IUCN Category II protected area with coral reefs, and an area measuring 144,292 rai ~ 231 square kilometres (89 sq mi). The park has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2002.
The Pages Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia which is associated with the island group known as The Pages located in Backstairs Passage about 25 kilometres south-east of Cape Jervis and about 98 kilometres south south-west of the state capital of Adelaide.
Lesueur Conservation Park, formerly the Cape Hart Conservation Park and the Cape Hart National Park, is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island.
Cape Torrens Wilderness Protection Area, formerly the Cape Torrens Conservation Park and the Cape Torrens National Park, is a protected area on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. It was originally dedicated on 21 January 1971 to conserve remnant native vegetation with outstanding coastal and cliff scenery and proclaimed as a wilderness protection area on 15 October 1993.
Australian marine parks are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the outer limit of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone at 200 nautical miles while marine protected areas located closer in-shore are the responsibility of the states or the Northern Territory.
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Eastern Recherche Marine Park is a marine park adjacent to the Recherche Archipelago, close to the Western Australian Cape Arid National Park, and 135 km east of Esperance, on the south coast of Western Australia. It has consists of two sections: one of 5,010 km2 (1,930 sq mi) which is managed as an IUCN protected area category VI, and a further section of 15,565 km2 (6,010 sq mi) which is managed as an IUCN protected area category II. The maximum depth of the park is 6,000 metres (20,000 ft).
Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state’s coastal waters adjoining both the west coast of Kangaroo Island and Lipson Reef, an islet located to the south of Kangaroo Island.
The marine protected areas of South Africa are in an area of coastline or ocean within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Republic of South Africa that is protected in terms of specific legislation for the benefit of the environment and the people who live in and use it. An MPA is a place where marine life can thrive under less pressure than unprotected areas. They are like underwater parks, and this healthy environment can benefit neighbouring areas.
The Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area is a marine conservation area in Algoa Bay, adjacent to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, near Gqeberha, previously Port Elizabeth.
The Prince Edward Island Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region near the Prince Edward Islands in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa, nearly 2,000 km southeast of South Africa in the Indian Ocean. The MPA provides habitat for seals, killer whales, breeding seabirds and Patagonian toothfish.
The Hluleka Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The Jutten Island Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa in Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape.
The Langebaan Lagoon Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa
The Malgas Island Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region encompassing Malgas Island, in the territorial waters of South Africa at the entrance to Saldanha Bay on the west coast of the Western Cape province.
The Marcus Island Marine Protected Area is a inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa
The Sixteen Mile Beach Marine Protected Area is a coastal conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa, near Saldanha Bay on the Western Cape coast. The MPA is part of the West Coast National Park which is the core component of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve.