The Level of Protection clarifies how well an MPA is protected from seven main types of extractive or destructive activities that an MPA or MPA zone could manage.
There are four Levels of Protection in The MPA Guide:
  1. Fully Protected: No impact from extractive or destructive activities is allowed, and all abatable impacts are minimized.
  2. Highly Protected: Only light extractive activities are allowed that have low total impact, and all other abatable impacts are minimized.
  3. Lightly Protected: Some protection of biodiversity exists, but extractive or destructive activities that can have moderate to significant impact are allowed.
  4. Minimally Protected: Extensive extraction and other activities with high total impact are allowed, but the site can still be considered an MPA under the IUCN protected area definition and provides some conservation benefit.
Some areas allow activities that have an impact so large that it is incompatible with the conservation of biodiversity, as defined by the IUCN.

Explore the four Levels of Protection, based on the intensity, scale, duration, frequency and overall impact of the seven types of activities.

Choose a Level of Protection

©The MPA Guide 2024