{"id":2518,"date":"2020-06-24T21:54:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T21:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marine-conservation.org\/?page_id=2518"},"modified":"2025-04-25T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:34:07","slug":"mpatlas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marine-conservation.org\/mpatlas\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Protection Atlas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

The Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas), a project of Marine Conservation Institute, was launched in 2012 as a way to provide a more nuanced picture of global marine protection. We emphasize a focus on quality, in addition to quantity, as the global conservation community works toward 30×30<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We aim to categorize, track, and visualize MPAs based on the conservation outcomes they are likely to achieve. Our primary goal is to identify and track\u00a0fully and highly protected\u00a0areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The MPA Guide<\/a><\/em>, published in Science<\/a> in 2021, was co-created by Marine Conservation Institute, Oregon State University, the UN World Conservation Monitoring Center, National Geographic Pristine Seas, and many other partners. Since its publication, the MPAtlas team has been building the world’s first comprehensive global database of MPA assessments using The MPA Guide<\/em>. Building upon the official\u00a0World Database on Protected Areas<\/a>\u00a0(WDPA), these assessments supplement the self-reported data using a standardized framework to categorize MPAs by their stage of establishment and level of protection. These metrics help us estimate the expected conservation outcomes of an MPA and identify areas that achieve the greatest conservation benefits – fully and highly protected areas.<\/p>\n

These metrics will drive the next conversations about and goals for international progress in marine conservation.\u00a0Using our assessment database, we provide more clarity to measures of global progress, what more is needed to achieve conservation goals, and the expected outcomes and conservation benefits of different types of protected areas.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that the information on MPAtlas.org is constantly being updated and is dependent on feedback from our community for accuracy. We welcome feedback or additional information and can be reached at\u00a0info@mpatlas.org<\/strong><\/a>. We also request that any use or citation of our data be time stamped. Thank you.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the evolution of the MPAtlas database.<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLaunch MPAtlas\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t