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Oceans Legally protected marine areas
Limitations of the marine areas with legal protection indicator
Until a marine protected area network is established, this indicator can report only on marine reserves within the territorial sea. Other marine management tools, including those in the Exclusive Economic Zone, are not reported on in any comprehensive way. When a marine protected area network is established, we will report on both marine reserves and other management tools, including those in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
While the effectiveness of marine reserves can be monitored at a regional level, it is difficult to report on the overall ‘health’ of protected marine habitats at the national scale, or provide quantitative information on how this health is changing over time.
Nor does this indicator measure how effective marine reserves are at protecting threatened marine species. As mentioned above, while local research is available for some marine reserves, comprehensive, national-scale information on this is unavailable.
There is good evidence to suggest, however, that marine reserves are valuable conservation tools, with marine reserve protection often resulting in more abundant and bigger individuals of some species, after only a few years of protection. For example, bigger and more abundant blue cod and lobster were found inside several marine reserves around New Zealand compared with outside the reserves.
This information has come from the latest environmental report card on marine areas with legal protection.
Return to the marine areas with legal protection page.
Last updated: December 2008
