International

• NAMPAN
• SPAW Protocol
• High Seas
• Pacific Islands Marine Protected Areas Community

International MPAs and the National System

  > National System  > International MPAs and the National System

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Below are some examples of international MPA efforts and linkages that can contribute to and benefit from the national system.

North American Marine Protected Areas Network

The North American Marine Protected Areas Network (NAMPAN) is a network of "people and places" being developed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States with the support of the Biodiversity Program of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in North America (CEC). The goal of NAMPAN is to work with a tri-national, multi-sectoral group of stakeholders to establish and implement an effective system of North American MPA networks that enhances and strengthens the protection of marine biodiversity.

SPAW Protocol

In 2003 the U.S. ratified the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife for the Wider Caribbean Region, which requires necessary measures to protect, preserve and sustainably manage areas that require conservation to safeguard their special value, and threatened or endangered species of flora and fauna in the region. The U.S. also is required to report on its efforts, including the status of existing and newly established protected areas, buffer zones and protected species, and any changes in the delimitation or legal status of protected areas and species. The MPA Center and the National Ocean Service /International Programs Office are partnering to facilitate U.S. listing under the Protocol.

High Seas

Areas beyond national jurisdiction, or "high seas," comprise 64% of the global oceans. These areas provide life-sustaining services to all peoples of the world, yet are increasingly threatened from a lack of integrated management. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that threats to marine biodiversity in the high seas could lead to significant declines in ecosystem functioning in the ocean, jeopardizing some of the processes that support life on this planet. The MPA Center is investigating the prospect of MPAs in the high seas as one tool to fight the rapid loss in biodiversity in the last and largest global commons on Earth.

Pacific Islands Marine Protected Areas Community

The Pacific Islands Marine Protected Areas Community (PIMPAC) is a collaboration of marine protected area (MPA) managers, non-governmental organizations, local communities, federal, state, and territorial agencies, and other stakeholders working together to collectively enhance the effective use and management of MPAs in the U.S. Pacific Islands and Freely Associated States. Specifically, PIMPAC aims to build partnerships among Pacific Island MPA practitioners and to bring support to the region in order to strengthen MPA planning, management, and evaluation efforts and conserving the marine resources of the Pacific Islands.