#MPAGuide Our Ocean CONFERENCE – Resources

Report Key Messages

• The Our Ocean Conferences have made an outsized contribution to global marine conservation efforts. A total 42% of the globally implemented area in MPAs came from announcements made at the OOC. More than 8.7 million km2 (3.3 million square miles) or 2.4% of the ocean is currently protected as a result of OOC commitments.
• The OOC’s commitment to accountability is paying off, at least in the MPA theme; 62% of committed actions have been completed to date. Almost all the rest show evidence of progress.
• Even greater outcomes will result if the remaining commitments are implemented. Implementing the remaining OOC-committed MPAs and adding these to the total number of MPAs already implemented worldwide would protect 7.4% of the ocean. If these OOC remaining commitments are fulfilled along with other promised MPAs worldwide, the total area of the ocean protected would be 9.5%, with one-third of that Fully to Highly Protected.
• Commitments made under the “Sustainable Fisheries” theme at the Our Ocean Conferences hold significant potential to address urgent global priorities through the 543 actions promised to date. One-third of total actions focus on ending IUU fishing, 20% on improving fisheries data, and 18% on fair and transparent access to fisheries and benefits.
• However, several high-priority actions remain underrepresented in OOC pledges to Sustainable Fisheries. These include addressing urgent areas such as ending harmful fishing subsidies, gear and bycatch reform, ensuring human rights, and decreasing overall fisheries effort and impact.
• The Our Ocean Conference provides a unique platform for countries and organizations to advance meaningful, actionable commitments. To fully realize this potential, it is essential to complete and implement existing commitments, accelerate the pace of protection and reform, and prioritize future commitments that directly address the most pressing challenges in ocean conservation and sustainable fisheries. We urge OOC hosts to ensure promises are ambitious and lead to action.

About 'The MPA Guide'

'‘The MPA Guide: A Framework to Achieve Global Goals for the Ocean’ is a groundbreaking scientific peer-reviewed synthesis published in the journal Science.

The MPA Guide is informed by decades of social and ecological research, and it includes a policy-relevant, broadly useful framework for categorizing MPAs and linking their outcomes for nature and people.

The MPA Guide was developed by an international team of researchers and experts from a wide range of disciplines and affiliations. It aims to connect MPA science to management and policy action.

The MPA Guide is facilitated by the founding partners: IUCN, UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the World Database on Protected Areas and Protected Planet, National Geographic Society Pristine Seas, Marine Conservation Institute’s Marine Protection Atlas, and The MPA Project at Oregon State University.

For more information, including practical guidance and explanatory videos, see The MPA Guide website at http://mpa-guide.protectedplanet.net.

Please visit Marine Conservation Institute’s Marine Protection Atlas to explore MPAs around the world that have been assessed according to The MPA Guide using Stage of Establishment and Level of Protection.

Translations of this are available in: French | Spanish | Portuguese