A new paper titled “Over 80% of the European Union’s marine protected area only marginally regulates human activities” has assessed how protected marine protected areas (MPAs) really are in the EU. The researchers looked at the level of protection of 4,858 EU MPAs based on the MPA Guide and found that in 2022, MPAs covered 11.4% of EU waters, and 0.2% were fully or highly protected.

Protection levels across the EU seas

Minimal Protection

By classifying MPAs into four protection levels from fully protected with no extractive activities, to minimally protected where high-impact activities can be allowed the results showed that 86% of MPA area showed low protection levels from harmful human activities such as dredging, or incompatibility with conservation.

Co-author Anastasiya Laznya said “We found that the various legislation used to establish marine protected areas, including national laws, international conventions, and EU Directives, offered minimal protection. For them to protect marine biodiversity, it is urgent to increase the regulations and the protection they provide”.

It was found that the minimal protection provided in MPAs was common across EU member state waters.

The authors write “Our results raise the question of how MPAs have been used and what decision-making processes would enable the definition of common rules that guarantee the future of our livelihood and our ecosystems within MPA boundaries and beyond.”

“For EU MPAs to protect marine biodiversity, it is urgent to expand their toolbox to reduce pressures on marine ecosystems by regulating activities more broadly, thus increasing their level of protection.”

Read the full, open access paper here.