Increasing protection: High Seas A complex processBuilding
international support for, and then implementing, high seas
marine protected areas (MPAs) is a complex, long-term process.
One major obstacle has been the lack of a global legal framework
for conserving international waters. WWF has long worked to set
up the necessary international legal framework. And to
accelerate protection, we developed a 10-year action plan for
high seas MPAs with IUCN-The World Conservation Union and the
World Commission on Protected Areas. World's first high seas
protectionIn 2010 we had a major success: the creation of the
world’s first high seas MPA off the South Orkney Islands in the
Southern Ocean. Covering an area of about 94,000 sq km -
slightly larger than Portugal - this biodiverse region is now
protected from fishing and dumping rubbish from fishing vessels.
Since then, another 5 high seas MPAs have been created around
the mid-oceanic ridge and seamounts in the North-East Atlantic.
Bottom trawling, which destroys marin