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The IUCN categories are applicable to all types of protected areas, whether terrestrial or marine. the 2008 Guidelines for Protected Area Management Categories (2008 Guidelines) provide considerable detail on the use and application of the categories, including for marine protected area (MPAs).

PACC reports

Reports from the PACC project

Technical report

Oceania is geographically one of IUCN’s largest regional programmes, covering much of the central and south west Pacific Ocean as well as Australia and New Zealand. The Pacific Islands cover almost 15% of the world’s ocean surface. The area is characterized by a high degree of ecosystem and species diversity, as well as a high level of endemicity (often over 90% for particular groups) on many of the Pacific Islands. Increasing awareness about the importance of biodiversity and the threats to these species is critically important to the survival of all species on Earth. Thus, IUCN is working with like-minded organizations to contribute to biodiversity conservation in the Pacific context. The concept of “Investing in Nature” is central to this approach, given that often the day-to-day goods and services provided by nature are taken for granted. For Oceania, it is vital that additional efforts and investments in natural resources promote sustainable long-term use, management and conservation of our biodiversity resources.

Mare nostrum, the Mediterranean Sea, the historic cradle of so many different cultures, is a melting-pot containing all that is at stake in terms of sustainable development and conservation of marine biodiversity. Mare medi terra, this semi-enclosed sea, representing less than 1% of the world’s oceans comprises 10% of the identified marine biodiversity known. The Mediterranean acts as a catalyst for the questions of integrated management of human activities and governance for the following reasons: it supports 1/3 of global maritime traffic, and is home to 150 million people attracting 200 million visitors each year; nearly half of its coastline has become “artificial”; over a quarter of the species of rays and sharks in the Mediterranean are threatened, and because management of fish stocks is a current topic for debate.

The spread of marine species beyond their native environment is of increasing concern due to rapid growth in commercial shipping and recreational boating, activities that can help organisms ‘hitchhike’. Marine invasive species are currently recognized as one of the major direct causes of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem provisioning and supporting services.

As environmental problems continue to increase at an ever more rapid rate, exacerbated by the major threat of global climate change, the need for widespread remedial action is becoming ever more pressing. Scientific consensus on both the root causes of these problems and the measures required to tackle them is growing, while mass media and public interest has reached fever pitch. Of course, while this has put pressure on decisionmakers to take positive action, the realisation of the gravity and extent of the environmental problems has encouraged all those concerned about the state of our world to search for partners around it: one such significant partnership to e­merge in recent years is between those concerned with the conservation of nature –and of its biodiversity– and the custodians of sacred sites, representing both indigenous beliefs and mainstream faiths.