Climate change likely to reduce the benefits of marine protected areas

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-11-19 03:00

Australia; Pacific; International; NSW

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

Marine protected areas are likely to be less effective in a warming world, according to Australian, New Caledonian and international researchers. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are sections of ocean where human activity is restricted in an attempt to preserve important ecosystems. The boundaries of these areas remain static however, while climate change is likely to force ecosystems to move and adapt beyond these boundaries. The researchers analysed a group of MPAs mostly off the coasts of Africa, and say about half the reefs and MPAs in the countries most at risk of food insecurity will likely see major biodiversity losses due to warming that no direct protection from human activity can prevent. The researchers say future attempts to conserve these ecosystems will need to plan for the climate risks they face.

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Journal/
conference: One Earth

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Macquarie University, University of New Caledonia

Funder: We thank the Environmental and Earth Science department of the Macquarie University for support. This work was also supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Funding for S.D. was provided by the Laboratory of Excellence ‘‘Corail’’ (LIVELIHOOD project, grant EPHE IRD PD A02020), France.We thank the IUCN and World Resources Institute for data collection, dissemination, and guidance on data use. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers and Anthony J. Richardson for invaluable feedback and suggestions that have strengthened this paper.

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