Marine Protected Areas: The Mediterranean’s pillar for conservation needs more than just coverage
Following the first International Marine Protected Areas Day on 1st August, we look at why the 30x30 target goes far beyond coverage, and the role of IUCN Med in advancing cooperation for biodiversity across the Mediterranean region.
Natural park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar, Andalusia (Spain)
On 1st August, the world celebrated the first International Marine Protected Areas Day (MPA Day), recognizing the essential role that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) play in ocean conservation. The initiative was launched in 2021 by South African organisations and commemorates the designation of 20 new MPAs in South Africa on 1 August 2019. Today, MPA Day has grown into an international movement, supported by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
For the Mediterranean, this occasion carries particular significance. The region is home to exceptional marine biodiversity - from extensive Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows to marine mammals - while also being one of the world’s most heavily pressured seas, facing growing threats from overfishing, climate change and habitat loss.
IUCN Med’s work across the Mediterranean
At IUCN Med, we work with governments, protected area managers, local communities and partners across the region to strengthen and expand MPA networks that are effective, equitable and ecologically connected.
Our work ranges from improving management effectiveness on the ground to promoting ecological connectivity and sustainable blue economy solutions, while ensuring that the livelihoods and well-being of coastal communities that depend on a healthy sea are also considered.
This work contributes to Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, widely known as the 30x30 target: to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030.
30x30: why the number is not the whole story
Achieving 30x30 is not simply about increasing the area designated as protected on a map. It is about ensuring that protected areas deliver real and measurable conservation outcomes, for both nature and the people who depend on it.
An MPA that exists on paper but lacks effective management, adequate resources or inclusive governance cannot deliver the conservation outcomes that the 30x30 target requires.
This is why much of IUCN Med’s work focuses on the quality and effectiveness of protection: assessing management effectiveness, strengthening local capacities and supporting processes that ensure that protection on the map translates into effective conservation at sea.
A new driver for Scientific cooperation in Europe
In September 2025, the European Subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Support Centre (TSCC) was officially launched under the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
IUCN Med is one of three institutions hosting the Centre in Europe, alongside a broad network of organisations that includes the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, the French National Museum of Natural History and the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity, among others.
The TSCC aims to catalyse the exchange of scientific knowledge, data, technical expertise and good practices among European countries. It supports countries in implementing their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and in advancing progress towards the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
By strengthening regional cooperation and access to knowledge, the Centre provides an important mechanism for turning global biodiversity commitments into concrete action - including progress towards 30x30.
Projects supporting Mediterranean MPAs
This work is already being translated into action through several projects across the region:
Each project addresses a different part of the same challenge, from effective management and ecological connectivity to participatory governance and international recognition of protected area quality.
Together, they contribute to a broader vision for Mediterranean MPAs: not simply more protected areas, but better-connected, better managedd and more resilient protected area networks.
A resilient Mediterranean Sea, for all
The first MPA Day is an opportunity to highlight work that continues throughout the year: the efforts of governments, protected area managers, coastal communities, scientists and conservation organisations working from different perspectives towards a Mediterranean where marine life can thrive and coastal communities can continue to depend on a healthy sea.
Achieving 30x30 across the Mediterranean is possible. But success will not be measured only by how much of the sea is designated as protected. It will depend on whether that protection delivers meaningful outcomes for biodiversity and for the people who depend on it.
Relevant IUCN resolutions approaved at the World Conservation Congres, Abu Dahbi 2025, approved on MPA for the Mediterranean
IUCN Resolutions on MPAs relevant to the Mediterranean region, adopted at the 2025 World Conservation Congress (Abu Dhabi):
Find out more: MPA Day · European Subregional TSCC
For further information on the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, click here.
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