ARE MEDITERRANEAN MPAs PROTECTING MARINE FORESTS?

In the Mediterranean Sea, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are nearly 700, covering approximately 5% of the sea surface, but merely 0.1% of the Mediterranean’s total surface is included in no-take zones. Mediterranean MPAs are often established according to political or socio-economic criteria more than nature conservation aspects, and only less than half of them have a management plan or have evaluated the status and the distribution of marine habitats. Results from our literature-based research highlight that scientific studies are abundant only in few Mediterranean MPAs, generally the biggest and the long-established ones. Usually, it is often the case that on land the vegetation has a primary role in establishing protected areas. By contrast, in marine systems, the vegetation has a secondary role or in some cases is absent in the establishment of protected areas. Furthermore, in the most studied Mediterranean MPAs, there have been limited scientific research on the status of large brown algae (i.e. Cystoseira and Sargassum) forests. As a result of this lack of information, marine forests are generally not included in Mediterranean MPA management plans, making it difficult to assess their evolution and understand the potential role of MPAs in the conservation of marine forests. With this contribution, we would like to remark the importance of conducting research on marine forests of Fucales in MPAs that may represent priority sites for the conservation of healthy forests and for the recovery of degraded ones.