Revealing a "Global Scientific Consensus Map" on Areas for Marine Protection

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 sets a target of conserving and protecting at least 10% of the ocean by 2020 based on “the best available science”. Numerous UN entities and nongovernmental organizations... [ view full abstract ]

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 sets a target of conserving and protecting at least 10% of the ocean by 2020 based on “the best available science”. Numerous UN entities and nongovernmental organizations have developed maps identifying marine conservation priorities based on criteria such as ecosystem uniqueness, productivity, and/or importance for threatened species. Because these initiatives rely on different sets of criteria, they do not always identify the same regions. We aimed to understand the level of consensus among regions identified by these initiatives and to determine current gaps in marine protection through an overlay analysis conducted in GIS. This analysis relied on spatial data from six United Nations initiatives and four nongovernmental organization initiatives and from the World Database on Protected Areas. To elucidate opportunities for increasing MPA coverage, we identified areas that several initiatives identified as important (i.e. consensus regions) but that are not currently protected. We considered our findings in the context of protection level and biogeographic representativeness. Recognizing that protection often occurs at the national level, we also conducted local case studies to demonstrate how our results could be applied at smaller scales. The maps used in this meta-analysis each result from substantial scientific effort by the experts that created them, so revealing consensus among these efforts is a powerful and immediate tool for directing future MPA development.