Marine reserve

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2014)

A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural resources is prohibited, marine reserves may also be "no-take MPAs,” which strictly forbid all extractive activities, such as fishing and kelp harvesting. As of 2007 less than 1% of the world's oceans had been set aside in marine reserves.^[1] Benefits include increases in the diversity, density, biomass, body size and reproductive potential of fishery and other species within their boundaries.^[2]

As of 2010, scientists had studied more than 150 marine reserves in at least 61 countries and monitored biological changes inside the reserves. The number of species in each study ranged from 1 to 250 and the reserves ranged in size from 0.006 to 800 square kilometers (0.002 to 310 square miles).^[3] In 2014, the World Parks Association adopted a target of establishing no-take zones for 30% of each habitat globally.^[4]