Archives - National MPA Initiative

The nation’s oceans and coastal waters, and the regional economies and cultures they support, face continued threats from an increasing array of pressures, including overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, disease, harmful algal blooms, and the impacts of global climate change. These environmental effects are particularly acute in near-shore coastal ecosystems where human activities have the greatest impacts. If current trends continue, many of our marine ecosystems will continue to decline. Likewise, human uses of these resources, such as recreation, food production, and many others, will be diminished. Marine protected areas, in combination with other management efforts, are valuable tools to help preserve the nation's ocean and coastal resources, and ensure their future sustainable use by present and future generations.

America Responds: Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas
Major Components of the National MPA Initiative

America Responds: Executive Order 13158 on Marine Protected Areas

Executive Order 13158, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), was signed on May 26, 2000 to strengthen the protection of U.S. ocean and coastal resources through the use of MPAs. On June 4, 2001, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans announced that President Bush's Administration intended to retain and proceed with the Executive Order (EO). The EO is a significant milestone that directs the Departments of Commerce and the Interior, and other federal agencies, to strengthen and expand a national system of MPAs by working closely with state, territorial, local, tribal, and other stakeholders.

Initiatives developed in response to the Executive Order on marine protected areas (MPAs) will protect and preserve representative examples of important U.S. coastal ecosystems.

(top)

Marine protected areas, or MPAs, may be established by federal, state and local governments to protect marine habitats and natural and cultural resources from overexploitation, destructive uses, or other threats, but they may also be created to conserve species, habitats, or biological diversity. MPAs are also established to provide valuable opportunities for recreation, enjoyment, and study. Like their more familiar counterparts on land, these protected areas contain some of the best of the nation’s heritage of wild, natural places in the ocean. They can also include some of the most degraded habitat, which is in dire need of effective resource management. In this country, federal MPAs may be national parks, national marine sanctuaries, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, fishery management zones, and many others. Other MPAs, such as national estuarine research reserves, are federally designated and managed in partnership with coastal states. States have additional authorities to establish and manage marine protected areas, as do tribes and some local governments. Each of these types of MPAs has a distinct purpose and authority; however, many share a common goal of conserving natural and/or cultural resources for present and future generations.

Executive Order 13158 recognizes the special role that MPAs can play in reversing the loss of ocean habitats, sustaining fisheries, and preserving other valuable marine resources. It directs federal agencies to work closely with state, local and nongovernmental partners to create a comprehensive network of marine protected areas "representing diverse U.S. marine ecosystems, and the Nation’s natural and cultural resources." Ultimately, this network might include new MPA sites established under existing management authorities, and enhanced existing sites.

Designing this nationwide system, and effectively managing its component MPAs, is a significant challenge requiring coordination across numerous programs at many levels of government. In the implementation of the EO, the Departments of Commerce (NOAA) and the Interior have identified two parallel tracks to focus the national initiative.

Network Design: Evaluating the adequacy of existing levels of protection for marine resources and recommending new MPAs, and/or strengthening existing MPAs to establish a comprehensive and representative network.

Science-based Management: Using science (both natural and social) to develop objective information, technical tools, and management strategies needed to support a national MPA network.

The conservation challenge of Executive Order 13158 -- designing and creating an integrated national system of marine protected areas -- has never been attempted by our nation. To succeed, we must build a strong foundation of scientific knowledge that includes the thorough identification of ocean and coastal habitats and resources. Having this information will facilitate where and how new marine protections should be created, and how MPAs could be managed effectively as a network. Furthermore, this information must be shared freely among all of the organizations and interests involved in the use and conservation of our nation's marine resources, including government agencies, conservation groups, affected industries, and the general public.

(top)