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MedPAN and SPA/RAC are working alongside their partners (IUCN, WWF, local NGOs, research organization, etc.) to establish an ecological network of MPA to protect at least 10% of the marine and coastal waters which is representative of the Mediterranean’s diversity and made up of ecologically interconnected and well managed MPAs, in accordance with the latest guidelines from the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Barcelona Convention. Every 4 years, MedPAN and SPA/RAC carry out the status of Mediterranean MPA to evaluate the progress that has been made, since the first inventory done in 2008, on the Mediterranean system of MPAs in view of the above mentioned objectives: does the network cover 10% of the Mediterranean, is it representative of the Mediterranean diversity, are MPAs well-connected and well managed? The main findings of the 2012 status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea were that the target of 10% protection was far from being achieved, that the network was not yet coherent and that MPA management was still insufficient. This 2016 report has used the 2015-2016 inventory made on MPAs (MAPAMED) and a survey questionnaire sent to managers not only to assess the progress made since 2012 but also to identify the remaining steps needed to achieve by 2020, the objectives set for the network of MPAs by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Barcelona Convention., peer-reviewed

The contributors to this Theme Section describe the structural, technical, administrative, operational, socio-economic and scientific complexities associated with the adoption and implementation of a holistic ecosystem-based approach.

In order to develop management strategies for sustainable use and conservation in the marine environment, reliable and meaningful, but integrated ecological information is needed. Biological valuation maps that compile and summarize all available biological and ecological information for a study area, and that allocate an overall biological value to subzones, can be used as baseline maps for future spatial planning at sea. This paper provides a concept for marine biological valuation which is based on a literature review of existing valuation criteria and the consensus reached by a discussion group of experts.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have become popular tools worldwide for ecosystem conservation and fishery management. Fish assemblages can benefit from protection provided by MPAs, especially those that include fully no-take reserves. Fish response to protection can thus be used to evaluate the effectiveness of marine reserves. Most target fish are high-level predators and their overfishing may affect entire communities through trophic cascades. In the Mediterranean rocky sublittoral, marine reserves may allow fish predators of sea urchins to recover and thus whole communities to be restored from coralline barrens to macroalgae. Such direct and indirect reserve effects, however, are likely to be related to the enforcement implemented. In Italy, many MPAs that include no-take reserves have been declared, but little effort has been spent to enforce them. This is a worldwide phenomenon (although more common in some regions than others) that may cause MPAs and reserves to fail to meet their targets. We found that 3 of 15 Italian marine reserves investigated had adequate enforcement, and that patterns of recovery of target fish were related to enforcement. No responses were detected when all reserves were analyzed as a whole, suggesting enforcement as an important factor to be considered in future studies particularly to avoid that positive ecological responses in properly managed reserves can be masked by neutral/negative results in paper parks. Positive responses were observed for large piscivores (e.g. dusky groupers) and sea urchin predators at reserves where enforcement was effective. Those reserves with low or null enforcement did not differ from fished areas.