Global marine protected area establishment largely avoids abatable threats to biodiversity

The world is rapidly expanding its system of marine protected areas, with a 513% increase in marine protection since 1990. In many cases, the benefits we receive from protected areas are still unclear because we do not know... [ view full abstract ]

The world is rapidly expanding its system of marine protected areas, with a 513% increase in marine protection since 1990. In many cases, the benefits we receive from protected areas are still unclear because we do not know the counterfactual, or what would have happened in the absence of protection. While some contend that we should be protecting the most threatened areas (reactive approach), others maintain that we need to protect the last of the remaining large, intact landscapes (proactive approach). In the marine realm, the dichotomy between reactive and proactive protection has received considerably less attention. There has been criticism of the continued designation of large, isolated protected areas; however, the degree to which marine protected areas are targeting or avoiding threats that marine protected areas can abate in the sea has yet to be quantified. We assess this question by investigating the relationship between marine protected area establishment and ‘stoppable’ threat level in recent years. In doing so, we identify the dominant marine conservation priority approach, unveil general patterns in marine threats and protection, and discuss what this could mean in terms of adequacy and biodiversity conservation in the world’s oceans.