IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)

All people, regardless of where they live, depend upon the existence of healthy marine ecosystems. While the role that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can play in promoting the health of the oceans and seas has been widely acknowledged, progress on building a network of MPAs has been slow to date. This can be in part explained by the fact that MPAs involve a host of issues that go much further than conservation alone.

Protected areas play a major role in reducing climate changing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. Fifteen percent of the world’s terrestrial carbon stock - 312 gigatonnes - are stored in protected areas around the world. Protected areas also serve as natural buffers against climate impacts and other disasters, providing space for floodwaters to disperse, stabilizing soil against landslides and blocking storm surges.

This report focuses on the management of natural coastal carbon sinks. There is a lack of recognition and focus on coastal marine ecosystems to complement activities already well advanced on land to address the best practice management of carbon sinks.

This is the second volume in the new series on the Value of Protected Landscapes and Seascapes. Each volume in the series will explore the different values that this category provides through a set of case studies preceded by a synthesis section discussing the lessons to be learnt. This volume breaks new ground by documenting, on a global scale, the non-material values that are to be found in protected landscapes.

This is the second volume in the new series on the Value of Protected Landscapes and Seascapes. Each volume in the series will explore the different values that this category provides through a set of case studies preceded by a synthesis section discussing the lessons to be learnt. This volume breaks new ground by documenting, on a global scale, the non-material values that are to be found in protected landscapes.