On April 17, 2026, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM UTC, AIRCENTRE will host a special session with Dr Mark Costello focusing on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The session will highlight findings from the MPA Europe project, which designed a network that is representative of all species, climate resilient and ecologically coherent. The project shows that protecting 10 % and 30 % of European and adjacent seas could include 55 % and 79 % of all species, respectively, offering a scalable approach for local conservation planning.
The session will also address common misconceptions about MPAs. Myths include that fully protected MPAs are radical in limiting public access, are expensive, displace fishing efforts, and don´t benefit fisheries, pelagic species, or help climate resilience. Other myths are that MPAs aim to protect biodiversity and that biodiversity is only harmed by commercial fishing. The experience worldwide is that fully protected (no fishing) areas reliably result in naturally restored biodiversity with spillover benefits to fisheries, in contrast to partially protected areas.