On 6 March 2025, the 4th EU Blue Parks Community Workshop convened in Brussels as part of the European Ocean Days, bringing together marine conservation experts including researchers, policymakers, MPA managers, conservation practitioners, and other stakeholders to discuss the transition towards 10% strict protection in European seas. The workshop was co-organized by Ecologic Institute as part of its role in the Mission Ocean & Waters Implementation Support Platform, supporting the EU’s ambition to restore ocean health and strengthen marine protection.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 calls for 30% of EU seas to be protected, with 10% under strict protection. The Mission Ocean & Waters is driving forward actions to scale up effective conservation efforts and foster collaboration among European and regional stakeholders.

As an integral part of the EU Mission Implementation Support, Ecologic Institute plays a key role in coordinating the EU Blue Parks Community, a platform that brings together EU Member States national and regional authorities, European marine networks, stakeholders, and research and innovation projects. It aims to help identify and address challenges, share tools, solutions and good practices, and promote innovative approaches to push forward progress in marine protection and restoration in the EU sea-basins. The Community gathers bi-annually at in-person and virtual workshops.

Key workshop outcomes

The workshop focused on the transition to achieving 10% strict marine protection, emphasizing its ecological and socio-economic benefits, particularly for biodiversity, fisheries, and coastal communities.  

Presentations and discussions underscored the need for:

• Leveraging socio-economic benefits to strengthen political commitment: Well-managed and especially strict MPAs provide tangible socio-economic benefits, such as supporting fisheries through spillover effects, boosting sustainable tourism, and strengthening local economies. However, despite these evidence-based advantages, political commitment remains insufficient to meet the 2030 targets. Accelerating progress requires governments to act on this evidence, translating benefits into stronger governance decisions, well-defined roadmaps, and better cross-sectoral coordination. By emphasizing economic and community gains, marine protection efforts can garner broader political and stakeholder support, ensuring the effective implementation of strict MPAs.
• Moving from paper parks to effective MPAs: Many existing MPAs lack enforcement and effective management. Strict protection should be embedded within strong governance frameworks, with adequate monitoring, enforcement capacity, and financial support to ensure tangible conservation outcomes.
• Aligning strict protection with climate resilience and restoration efforts: MPAs can act as climate refugia by safeguarding critical habitats, but they must be adaptively managed to address climate impacts. Better connectivity and flexibility in conservation planning were emphasized as key priorities.
• Strengthening stakeholder engagement and local ownership: Strict protection measures can only succeed if coastal communities, fishers, tourism actors, and offshore industries are involved early in the planning process. Best practices show that trust-building and participatory governance lead to stronger compliance and long-term success.
• A key highlight of the workshop was the roundtable panel, which focused on the operational realities of implementing strict MPAs.

As a core partner in the Mission Ocean & Waters Implementation Support Platform, Ecologic Institute is actively facilitating dialogues between policymakers, MPA managers, and the research community to drive forward progress towards the EU marine protection targets. Through the EU Blue Parks Community, we foster evidence-based discussions, enable essential collaboration and knowledge transfer, and provide technical and strategic input to strengthen the governance and management of MPAs, supporting policy development for a more effective and resilient MPA network across Europe.

The presentation slides are available at the Mission Ocean and Waters' service portal and the full workshop report will be published soon, summarizing key insights, case studies, and recommendations.

The next EU Blue Parks Community workshop is planned for later in 2025 – updates will be shared via the EU Mission Ocean & Waters portal.