OSPAR Marine Protected Areas

Database outlining marine protected areas in the OSPAR maritime area

At the Ministerial Meeting in Sintra in 1998, OSPAR Ministers agreed to promote the establishment of a network of marine protected areas. Following a period of preparatory work, the 2003 OSPAR Ministerial Meeting in Bremen adopted Recommendation 2003/3 on a network of marine protected areas with the purpose of establishing an ecologically coherent network of well-managed MPAs in the North-East Atlantic.This database holds spatial and non-spatial data that OSPAR Contracting Parties have reported on MPAs that have been nominated to the OSPAR MPA network.

The information is predomniantly used to undertake regular assessments of the status of the network. The latest report can be found on the "Publications" page of the OSPAR website.