For the first time, States have agreed on international mechanisms to designate marine protected areas (MPAs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction, alongside strengthened environmental impact assessments, capacity building provisions, and benefit-sharing arrangements for marine genetic resources.
Why this matters for MPAs and MSP
This global development directly connects to the work of the SUBMARINER Network, particularly across projects focused on marine protected areas and maritime spatial planning (MSP).
Across our work, several principles are consistently reinforced:
- Marine Protected Areas require governance frameworks, not just designation. Effective MPAs depend on clear objectives, scientific criteria, stakeholder involvement, and alignment with wider spatial planning processes.
- Maritime Spatial Planning is a key implementation tool for biodiversity policy. MSP enables the integration of conservation objectives with sustainable use of marine space, ensuring coherence between MPAs, economic activities, and ecosystem protection.
- Area-based management tools benefit from planning logic. While MSP as defined under EU law does not apply to the high seas, the High Seas Treaty reflects the same fundamentals: evidence-based decision-making, coordination across sectors, and spatial approaches to managing cumulative impacts.
Linking global commitments with regional implementation
The Treaty’s entry into force strengthens the case for closer alignment between global biodiversity commitments and regional and EU-level planning frameworks. For MSP practitioners and MPA developers, this means anticipating how high seas conservation measures interact with national waters, sea-basin strategies, and existing regional cooperation mechanisms.
SUBMARINER’s projects contribute to this alignment by translating policy ambitions into operational tools, methodologies, and governance approaches that support coherent planning across scales.
This includes work on MPA coherence, cross-border MSP, and the integration of biodiversity objectives into blue economy development.
As implementation of the High Seas Treaty begins, the focus now shifts from agreement to delivery. Ensuring that global conservation goals result in tangible outcomes will depend on strong links between international frameworks and practical planning instruments. This is where MSP and well-designed MPAs play a central role.
More information of SUBMARINER MPA projects: https://submariner-network.eu/our-solutions/marine-protected-areas/
