WMarine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations, MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish. The value of MPA to mobile species is unknown.
WA marine reserve is a type of marine protected area that has legal protection against fishing or development. As of 2007 less than 1% of the world's oceans had been set aside in marine reserves. Benefits include increases in the diversity, density, biomass, body size and reproductive potential of fishery and other species within their boundaries.
WThe National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades was founded by Presidential Decree on May 16, 1992. It was the first of its kind in Greece, and is currently the largest marine protected area in Europe. Besides the sea area, the park includes the island of Alonnisos, six smaller islands, as well as 22 uninhabited islets and rocky outcrops. It is located in the region of the Northern Sporades Islands, in the northern Aegean Sea. There is one other marine park in Greece, namely Zakynthos Marine Park.
WThe Classical Shipwreck at Alonnisos is a shipwreck of the Classical Greek period that sunk near the islet Peristera at a depth of 30 m. Its cargo of 3000-4000 amphoras made it the largest transport ship yet known of its period when excavation began in 1992, and it carried wine from Mende and Skopelos. In addition to amphoras, the ship transported many valuable items including black-glazed cups, plates and bronze tableware.
WBacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve (BCNPMR) is a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site on the northern part of Ambergris Caye in Belize.
WThe Bar Reef is a system of coral reefs just offshore from Sri Lanka's Kalpitiya peninsula. It has the greatest biodiversity of any coral reef in the waters around India and is one of the few pristine coral reef systems in Sri Lanka.
WCape D'Aguilar Marine Reserve is the only Marine Reserve in Hong Kong. It is located at the far south-east corner of Hong Kong Island and covers an area of just 20 hectares, mainly between Kau Pei Chau and the rocky coastline. It was designated in July 1996 under the Marine Parks Ordinance to protect the rocky shores and the subtidal habitats in the area.
WThe Dongsha Atoll National Park is the seventh national park of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
WThe Eastern Dallmann Bay Antarctic Specially Protected Area is a marine Antarctic Specially Protected Area lying at the eastern end of Dallmann Bay, adjacent to the north-western and northern coasts of Brabant Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. With an area of about 676 km2 it covers shallow marine waters that are suitable for bottom trawling for demersal fish and other benthic organisms for scientific research. The area contains important habitat for juvenile fish, especially Black Rockcod and Blackfin Icefish. The fish collected from the site are used in studies of their physiological and biochemical adaptations to low temperatures.
WEndelave is a Danish island in the Kattegat, north of Odense, off the coast of Funen, and west of Samsø. The island covers an area of 13.2 km2 (5.1 sq mi) and has 185 inhabitants.
WGaiola Island is one of the minor islands of Naples, off the city's Posillipo residential quarter, in the Metropolitan City of Naples and Campania region, southwestern Italy. It is located within the "Parco sommerso di Gaiola".
WThe Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) lies a thousand kilometres from the Ecuadorian mainland and covers an area of around 133,000 km2 (51,000 sq mi). The Galápagos Islands and the surrounding waters represent one of the world’s most unusual ecosystems and are rich areas of biodiversity. Recently granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the Galápagos Marine Reserve is the largest marine reserve in a developing country and the second largest reserve in the world.
WGladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve (GSSCMR) is a protected marine reserve in the central part of Belize's Barrier Reef. It covers approximately 25,980 acres (10,510 ha) lying 36 kilometres (22 mi) off the coast of Placencia. Established in 2003, The reserve comes under the authority of the government's Fisheries Department, but is managed by the Southern Environmental Association, a community-based organisation.
WThe Glorioso Islands Marine Natural Park is a marine park at the entrance of the Mozambique Channel, around the Glorioso Islands, in the Indian Ocean. It extends for more than 43,000 km2 until the edge of the French overseas territory's exclusive economic zone. Established in 2012, it is the fourth marine natural park created by France and the second in the Indian Ocean after Mayotte Marine Natural Park, which it abuts.
WHol Chan Marine Reserve is a marine reserve close to Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize. It covers approximately 18 km² (4,448 acres) of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forest. Hol Chan is Mayan for "little channel".
WIsla Bastimentos National Marine Park is a marine park located in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. The park covers 13,226 hectares.
WLaguna de la Restinga is a national park on the Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta state, Venezuela. The main part of the park is a large salt lagoon, rich in fish and birdlife. It is on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, and is classified as an Important Bird Area.
WThe Mayotte Marine Natural Park is a marine park surrounding Mayotte, a French overseas region. Mayotte is part of the Comoro Islands archipelago, which lies within the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean. Established in 2010, the park covers the entirety of Mayotte's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. It is contiguous with the Glorioso Islands Marine Natural Park, which was established two years later.
WMochima National Park is located in the States of Anzoátegui and Sucre (state), on the northeastern coast of Venezuela. The park covers 94,935 hectares and is made up of an exclusively marine area in its western sector, a coastal marine area that includes the Gulf of Santa Fé and Mochima Bay, and a mountainous area that covers the Turimiquire Dam watershed. Mochima Park was created to protect the montane forests of the Turimiquire Range and the country's eastern Caribbean Sea marine landscapes.
WThe Parc naturel régional de Carmargue is a protected area which was designated in 1970 along the shoreline of the Camargue, France. The park protects a wetland environment and an adjacent marine area. The boundaries of the park have been expanded to include a lagoon called the Étang de Vaccarès.
WThe Pedra da Risca do Meio Marine State Park is a state park in the state of Ceará, Brazil.
WThe Perhentian Islands are islands in Besut District, Terengganu, Malaysia.
WThe Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is located in the Republic of Kiribati, an ocean nation in the central Pacific approximately midway between Australia and Hawaii. PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and with a size of 408,250 km2 (157,630 sq mi), it is one of the largest marine protected areas (MPA) and one of the largest protected areas of any type on Earth. The PIPA was also designated as the world’s largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
WPort Honduras Marine Reserve is a national protected marine reserve in the Toledo district of Belize. It was established in January 2000, and covers 40,470 hectares of mangrove and coastal ecosystems. It encompasses over one hundred small, mangrove-fringed cayes, benthic habitats comprising soft-bottom seagrass beds and fringing reefs.
WThe Prickly Pear Cays, sometimes spelt as Prickley Pear Cays, are a small pair of uninhabited islands about six miles from Road Bay, Anguilla, in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. They are divided by a narrow boat channel between Prickly Pear East and Prickly Pear West. Prickly Pear Cays were classified as 'wildlands' by the "Eastern Caribbean Natural Area Management Programme" (ECNAMP). In addition, Prickly Pear Cays are one of six marine protected areas of Anguilla.
WA shark sanctuary is an area that forbids commercial fishing operations from targeting and retaining caught sharks, including their fins. The first shark sanctuary was created by Palau in 2009. It was followed by Maldives, Honduras, The Bahamas and Tokelau.
WSouth Penghu Marine National Park is a national park of Taiwan in the south of Penghu Islands. The marine park includes the islands of Dongjiyu, Xijiyu, Dongyupingyu, Xiyupingyu, other smaller islets and surrounding waters. It is managed by the Marine National Park Headquarters.
WSouth Water Caye Marine Reserve is the largest marine reserve in the Stann Creek district of Belize. It was established in 1996 and covers 47,702 hectares of mangrove and coastal ecosystems.
WThe Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are located along the German Bight of the North Sea. In Germany and Denmark they also mark the area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wadden Sea. Divided from each other by administrative borders, they form a single ecological entity. The purpose of the national parks is the protection of the Wadden Sea ecoregion.