Systematic Marine Conservation Planning

Systematic marine conservation planning has emerged as a rigorous, repeatable framework for identifying and managing networks of marine protected areas and other conservation measures. At its core, the approach combines biodiversity data, socio-economic considerations and explicit conservation targets to generate spatially efficient portfolios of priority sites. The planning cycle typically involves problem definition and stakeholder engagement; the assembly of ecological, oceanographic and human-use datasets; the specification of quantitative targets for habitat types, species or ecological processes; and the use of spatial prioritisation algorithms to explore trade-offs between conservation objectives and opportunity costs. Iterative consultation with fishers, industry representatives and policymakers ensures that plans remain adaptive and socially acceptable. Recent advances have extended planning into three dimensions to account for depth, incorporated dynamic oceanographic processes to protect pelagic biodiversity, and applied participatory mapping to integrate local knowledge on fisheries. By fostering transparent decision-making, systematic planning supports the design of resilient marine protected area networks that deliver ecological representation, connectivity and equity at national and transboundary scales.

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Systematic Marine Conservation Planning publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in systematic marine conservation planning across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Systematic conservation planning: A methodical approach to selecting and managing conservation areas to achieve specific biodiversity goals at minimum cost.

Marine Protected Area (MPA): A clearly defined marine region designated to achieve long-term conservation of nature and associated ecosystem services.

Opportunity cost: The foregone benefits to resource users, such as fishers, when areas are set aside for conservation rather than extractive activities.

Spatial prioritisation tools: Decision-support software that identifies optimal sites for conservation based on ecological features and socio-economic factors.

Representativeness: The extent to which protected areas capture the diversity of habitats, species or ecological processes within a region.

References

1. Integrated systematic planning and adaptive stakeholder process support a 10‐fold increase in South Africa's Marine Protected Area estate. Conservation Letters (2023).
2. Adding the Third Dimension to Marine Conservation. Conservation Letters (2017).
3. Accommodating Dynamic Oceanographic Processes and Pelagic Biodiversity in Marine Conservation Planning. PLOS ONE (2011).
4. Addressing distribution equity in spatial conservation prioritization for small-scale fisheries. PLOS ONE (2020).