Marine Protected Areas in Europe - An assessment of the current status and the representation of benefits in socioeconomic analyses in order to support decision-making

Due to human activities many of the world’s marine ecosystems have been degrading. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been widely recognized as a tool to protect marine ecosystems from many of these human impacts. Therefore, MPAs have also been recognized in EU marine policy such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). However, the MSFD also requires that Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBAs) are performed prior to the introduction of any new measures such as MPAs. Determining the benefits of MPAs is especially challenging. What are these benefits and how can benefits be quantified or monetised in order to include them in CBAs. This has been a problem when a CBA needed to be carried out prior to the protection of the Frisian Front and the Central Oystergrounds, two MPAs in the Netherlands. However, it is very likely that other Member States faced similar issues. Therefore, the aim of this report is to find answers on what the benefits of MPAs are and how they can be quantified or monetised. In order to do that, this report includes an assessments on the current status of MPAs in Europe and determines which factors are essential for MPA performance and the benefits that they can provide. The second part of this report examines what the benefits of MPAs are and how they have been quantified or monetised in order to perform CBAs and support decision-making.