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Marine and coastal ecosystems are among the most productive environments in the world and their stocks of natural capital offer a bundle of vital ecosystem services. Anthropogenic pressure seriously threatens health and long-term sustainability of marine environments. For these reasons, integrated approaches capable of combining ecological and socio-economic aspects are needed to achieve nature conservation and sustainability targets. In this study, the value of natural capital of the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (EI-MPA) was assessed through a biophysical and trophodynamic environmental accounting model. The emergy value of both autotrophic and heterotrophic natural capital stocks was calculated for the main habitats of the EI-MPA. Eventually, the emergy value of natural capital was converted into monetary units to better communicate its importance to local managers and policy-makers. The total value of natural capital in the EI-MPA resulted in 1.12·10 21 sej, equivalent to about 1.17 billion of euros. In addition, using Marxan software, the results of the environmental accounting were integrated with spatial data on main human uses. This integration took into account the trade-offs between conservation measures and human exploitation by means of two different scenarios, with and without considering human uses in the EI-MPA. The comparison between the scenarios highlighted the importance of taking into account human activities in marine spatial planning (MSP), allowing the identification of key areas for natural capital conservation. In conclusion, this study showed the importance of integrating environmental accounting with conservation planning to support effective strategies for ecological protection and sustainable management of human activities. The results of this study represent a first benchmark useful to explore alternative nature conservation strategies in the EI-MPA, and, more in general, in Mediterranean MPAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are playing a central role in the achievement of ocean sustainability and, since 2000, their global coverage has increased over ten times. The success of MPAs, and therefore the delivery of their potential outcomes for human well-being and global sustainability, requires multi-disciplinary, holistic, and comprehensive approaches for its achievement. In this study, the global scientific literature on MPAs was quantitatively reviewed through bibliometrics approaches, investigating patterns and trends in its development over time. In particular, bibliometric network and citation burst analyses of keywords were performed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software. The bibliographic search on the Scopus and Web of Science databases resulted in a total number of 5908 and 6036 scientific documents published on MPAs. The network analysis of the keywords co-occurrence produced four main clusters whose connections and overlapping showed a multidisciplinary structure of MPA science, in which the ecological, social, and economic domains of research are strongly interlinked. Temporal analyses showed a recent focus on topics related to the social-ecological systems theory (e.g., ecosystem services, marine spatial planning, governance, and small-scale fisheries) suggesting that newer research lines recognize the importance of integrating the "human dimension" in conservation and sustainability studies. Overall, the results of both the performed bibliometric analyses pointed out the evolution of MPA science from the conventional concept of "marine reserves" to a broader scope integrating ecological, economic, and social aspects. In conclusion, MPA research is timely responding to the identification of MPAs as ocean sustainability tools, opening MPA science to multi-disciplinary research lines by linking the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of sustainability. MPA research is expected to play a crucial role in generating the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge needed to fully contribute to global ocean sustainability and human well-being. Unlabelled Image • Scientific research on MPAs is highly interdisciplinary. • MPA research evolved over time encompassing ecological and socio-economic aspects. • Over the years, human-related keywords increased in MPA scientific literature. • The human dimension plays a central role in marine conservation. • MPA research is responding to international commitments for ocean sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]