List of Marine Protected Areas of Italy

This list is of the Marine Protected Areas (Italian: aree marine protette) of Italy. As of the most recent Official list of natural protected areas [it], decreed on 27 April 2010 and published in the official gazette on 31 May 2010 by the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection, there were twenty-seven such marine protected areas, and a further two "Submerged Archaeological Parks" (Italian: parchi sommersi); in 2018, two new marine protected areas were created. Typically subdivided into Zones A, B, and C, each affording a different level of protection, these areas help safeguard in total some 228,000 hectares (2,280 km²) of the seas around Italy as well as some 700 kilometres (430 mi) of its coastline. The Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary is not included in these figures.^[1][2][3] While some stakeholders have opposed such measures, fearing the impact on short-term economic exploitation, a study of the alternatives at Portofino suggested that steps at protection might offer not only environmental benefits but also the concomitant potential of enhanced long-term usufruct.^[4]