8 Sites: Marine sites concepts

The concept of what constitutes a specific site for supporting marine megafauna conservation is still the subject of debate. Sites may be small and managed by a single local authority, or sites may be large and managed by a collective group of decision-makers from multiple countries.

Through example of protected areas represented on the World Database of Protected Areas:

• One of the smallest marine protected areas is the Eacho Bay Marine Park in Canada. It is only 0.01km², and it is managed at a sub-national level.

• Whereas one of the largest marine protected areas is the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Basin (NACES) MPA. It is 595156 km², and it is managed through a collaborative governance approach.

8.1 Key Biodiversity Areas

In the toolkit, we recognise a spectrum of sites. However, we advocate for, and support the identification of, Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). This is because by formally identifying a site as a KBA, the site will have added ability to bring about a change by a decision-maker that supports species maintaining or achieving a favourable conservation status.

8.2 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas

For bird species specifically, we recognise the historic value of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs). IBAs have formed the cornerstone of conservation efforts for BirdLife International and its partners. IBAs have also been a leading tool for seabird conservation.

8.3 Other sites

Sites that do not meet KBA or IBA criteria, may still be particularly relevant for key biodiversity at unique sites at local, national and regional scales. The tools outlined in this Toolkit can help users identify and justify the validity of a site when trying to get decision-makers to act.

8.4 Important sites in the marine environment

Multiple different frameworks exist aimed to identify and describe sites within the marine environment that are of ecological significance, differing in their focus, scope, and processes of identification. Example frameworks include:

• Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)

• Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)

• Ecological and Biologically Signification Areas (EBSAs)

• Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs)

• Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs)

• Important Marine Turtle Areas (IMTAs)

• Marine Key Ecological Features (MKEFs)

While these frameworks do not specifically dictate a protected status for the specific site, they guide policy makers in identifying which sites are of most importance for preserving biodiversity according to a set of pre-defined criteria.

The Toolkit focuses on KBAs as a key policy mechanism given they are an overarching framework which facilitates recognition of sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity across all taxonomic groups.

Furthermore, KBAs are formally recognised in a suite of international agreements that promote, support and enable the conservation of biodiversity.

See Plumptre et al. (2024) (Plumptre et al. (2024)) for an overview about KBAs and a comparison of the conservation objectives and relevance to different systems of the main approaches to identification of areas of particular importance for biodiversity.