Marine Protected Areas Underfunded and Understaffed

A new research study, “Capacity shortfalls hinder the performance of marine protected areas globally,” by D.A. Gill, included the following conclusions about marine protected areas globally:

• About 65 percent of the 433 surveyed MPAs reportedly suffered from inadequate budget for the management of the protected areas.
• Nearly 91 percent of MPAs lacked sufficient staff to carry out critical management activities.
• The findings suggest that effective biodiversity conservation is not just dependent on environmental conditions or MPA features (such as MPA size, fishing regulations), but is also heavily dependent on available capacity.

Click here for an article about this study and its implications.