Environmental representativity in marine protected area networks over large and partly unexplored seascapes

Converting assemblages of marine protected areas (MPAs) into functional MPA networks requires political will, multidisciplinary information, coordinated action and time. We developed a new framework to assist planning environmental representativity in a network across the marine space of Portugal, responding to a political commitment to protect 14% of its area by 2020. An aggregate conservation value was estimated for each of the 27 habitats identified, from intertidal waters to the deep sea.

The current application of ecological connectivity in the design of marine protected areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an area-based conservation strategy commonly used to safeguard marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecological connectivity governs the exchange of individuals among spatially fragmented habitats and is often highlighted as an important element in the design of MPAs. However, the degree to which measured or modelled representations of connectivity are applied to marine management decisions worldwide remains unclear.

reefs of Timor Leste. © PAUL HILTON FOR CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL
In diver's paradise, communities unite to protect their most valuable resource: reefs

You’d be forgiven if you couldn’t find Timor-Leste on a map....thanks to a new effort to combine 12 community-run marine protected areas (MPAs) — areas of the ocean where human activity is restricted, preventing overfishing and keeping the waters healthy — into one large network on the Timorese i