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Sandeels swim above a seagrass meadow. With shafts of sunlight shining through the water, there's a stunning contrast between the vibrant green seagrass and the clear blue water.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

Underwater nature reserves, commonly called Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), act as sanctuaries for rare or threatened animals, plants and landscapes. These habitats are a vital tool in safeguarding our ocean's future.

    What is an MPA?

    An MPA is an area of the ocean that is designated in law to protect species, habitats, historical or cultural features. Damaging human activity, which can include bottom trawling or dredging fishing techniques, are sometimes prohibited depending on the purpose and objectives of the site.

    There are currently 377 MPAs across UK seas.

    Some MPAs are very large. Dogger Bank MPA is about four times the size of the Lake District and the West of Scotland MPA is larger than Scotland itself!

    Government conservation bodies carry out surveys to determine which habitats need protecting. Often citizen scientist divers from organisations such as Seasearch are the first to record the seabed in areas to help identify where needs protection. Conservation advice from experts helps law makers understand how human activity may be disturbing species and ecosystems, and what specific measures are needed to protect them.

    Why Marine Protected Areas are important

    MPAs are a globally recognised approach to halting biodiversity loss in our ocean and encouraging the recovery of marine wildlife and their habitats. They can also protect breeding and nursery grounds, and feeding areas for mobile species including fish,  shellfish, whales, dolphins and seabirds.

    These sites can also safeguard and recover important 'blue carbon' habitats - those that absorb and store carbon - and help in our fight against climate change.

    When these habitats are degraded and the seabed is disturbed, stored carbon is released back into the water and may re-enter the atmosphere. By protecting and rewilding our marine environments, we can keep carbon locked in the ocean through increased numbers of marine species and healthier marine habitats.

    A small fishing trawler seen from a birds-eye-view over a deep blue ocean.

    Image credit: Norrie3699 via Shutterstock

    Fishing in MPAs

    Fishing is allowed in almost all Marine Protected Areas, but it has to be carefully monitored.

    Types of MPA vary - some allow only lower impact types of fishing, whilst others still allow bottom trawling, depending on what they were designated for. Very few are “no-take zones” where areas are completely protected from all types of fishing activity.

    Areas where all fishing is restricted can create amazing oases for marine life and lead to more fish and shellfish, which then spill over into surrounding areas, where they have the potential to benefit nearby fisheries and ecosystems alike.

    Much of the damage has been done over the last 130 years and continuing to trawl the seabed prevents the potential for recovery.

    We published research showing that protecting offshore MPAs from bottom trawling will have economic benefit to society too, in the shape of improved 'ecosystem services' - such as nutrient cycling, carbon capture, and improved conditions for marine recreation.

    Read our socio-economic analysis of a bottom-contact fishing ban in the UK

    Our work so far

    For nearly 40 years, we've been fighting for a cleaner, better-protected and healthier ocean. 

    Our work has resulted in over 50 Marine Protected Areas in inshore waters receiving bans on damaging fishing activity, like bottom trawling and dredging. 

    We've enabled legislation in Scotland, England and Wales. Our campaigns have mobilised over 100,000 UK citizens to call for truly protected Marine Protected Areas.

    Rewilding our waters

    We work alongside communities, with UK and devolved governments and local regulators to make sure that any management measures put in place work for everyone.

    The water is dark green. The seabed floor is white, and on the seabed floor are lots of bags of seagrass

    Seagrass bags on the sea floor  |  Image credit: Ocean Conservation Trust

    Below are some examples of what we've been doing to protect and rewild our waters, together with our partners:

    • Campaigning for a world-first protected area for basking sharks and minke whale in the Sea of Hebrides
    • Worked with boat users and the local community to protect and restore 123 hectares of seagrass and save the seagrass meadows of Plymouth
    • Collaborating with The Glenmorangie Company and Heriot-Watt University to reintroduce native oysters to the Dornoch Firth
    • Helping kelp on the Sussex coast with the local community and fellow environmental organisations...and Sir David Attenborough!
    • Collaborating with Heriot-Watt University and WWF Scotland to reintroduce native oysters to the Firth of Forth 
    • Helping kelp on the Sussex coast with the local community and fellow environmental organisations...and Sir David Attenborough! 
    • Securing protection for over 175,000km2 of Scotland’s vast offshore MPAs 
    • We are currently working with partners to gather public support for the best possible protection for over 160 special places all around Scotland’s inshore waters for a wide range of habitats and wildlife, from maerl beds and flameshells to basking sharks and black guillemots.

    Our vision for the future

    Many of the UK's Marine Protected Areas are dubbed 'paper parks': their protections are little more than lines on a map. For these sites to be truly effective, they must be properly managed. This means banning damaging activity from certain sites, like bottom trawling vital seabed habitats. We need governments to lead with proper regulation, controls, enforcement and monitoring.

    We researched the cost-benefit of banning bottom-contact fishing from the UK’s offshore MPAs designated to protect seabed features. The overall net benefit could amount to between £2.57 billion and £3.5 billion over a 20-year period.

    We're calling for at least 30% of the ocean to be highly or fully protected by 2030, to allow our ocean to recover and thrive once more.

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    A curled octopus resting on the seabed around Orkney Islands, Scotland

    Marine unProtected Areas

    We found that damaging fishing, like bottom trawling, was taking place in 98% of the UK's offshore Marine Protected Areas intended to protect vital seabed habitats.

    MPAs: Your questions answered

    If you're confused about Marine Protected Areas and the challenges involved in managing them, this is a good place to start.
    Sandeels swim above a seagrass meadow. With shafts of sunlight shining through the water, there's a stunning contrast between the vibrant green seagrass and the clear blue water.

    Regeneration

    Our restoration projects are working to make sure our ocean is as biodiverse as possible.