The MPA Center has a range of resources to support considering climate change in MPA management. These materials provide information on managing MPAs in a changing ocean and maximizing their potential as a climate solution. Developing and deploying resources, strategies, and approaches for dynamic, climate-change-responsive management will be important to ensuring MPA effectiveness now and in the decades to come.
The benefits associated with blue carbon ecosystems are increasingly recognized by MPA managers and deserve significant attention on a global scale. Increasing awareness of these benefits among MPA managers and the public can play a key role in promoting effective management and associated co-benefits. This report provides information on the benefits of blue carbon ecosystems and highlights how they can be effectively integrated into MPA management.
Many existing management effectiveness tools and assessments address climate change directly or indirectly by fostering management best practices that can support protected areas under a range of changing circumstances, including a changing climate. However, there is a lack of tools to help MPA practitioners consider in depth how climate change relates to MPA management and the importance of intentionally strengthening management practices in the face of the climate crisis. The Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Planning Tool (CC-RAPT) for MPAs and Marine OECMs was developed to address that gap.
Para Español: Herramienta de Planificación para Resiliencia y Adaptación
MPAs provide long term protection to important marine and coastal ecosystems that provide a wide range of benefits, including biodiversity conservation, coastal protection, food and livelihoods for local communities, and carbon storage. As such, they can provide natural solutions to climate impacts through mitigation, adaptation and resilience, complementing essential efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more in this StoryMap.
The incorporation of ecological connectivity, the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on Earth, into protected area design and management is critical to achieving conservation outcomes. This paper highlights the important role of ecological connectivity in the design and management of MPA networks through an introduction to marine connectivity and the challenges and benefits of incorporating it into management and provides guidance for policy and practice, including “rules of thumb” for incorporating connectivity into MPA design and management.
The role of ecological connectivity in the effective design and management of MPA networks is gaining attention in the field of marine conservation. This document provides an introduction to ecological connectivity in MPAs while highlighting information needed to fully capitalize on this important ecological process for more effective and resilient MPAs.
MPAs face a wide range of climate change stressors that challenge traditional management strategies. As a result, marine and coastal managers are beginning to focus on climate assessment and adaptation within the protected areas of our ocean. This article shares case studies and experiences of MPA managers on the cutting edge of climate adaptation and highlights the successes achieved through capacity building, community engagement, and partnership development that span geographic, institutional, and community boundaries. These experiences reflect the need for close collaboration with scientists, communities, and diverse stakeholders in identifying and implementing adaptation actions and provide the beginning of a road map for successful climate management in MPAs.
This four-pager provides an overview of MPAs in the U.S., how MPAs are impacted by climate change, and how MPAs and MPA networks help address climate change. It also provides climate change references and resources.
This infographic, also available in Spanish, provides an overview of how MPAs can build resilience to climate change impacts.
This issue profile provides information on ocean warming, its impacts, and how MPAs are attempting to address the impacts of ocean warming.
Marine Protected Areas