Networks of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs), where all extractive activities are prohibited, are the most effective tool to directly protect marine ecosystems from destructive and unsustainable human activities. No-take MPAs and MPA networks have been globally implemented in coastal seas, and their success has been significantly enhanced where science-based biophysical guidelines have informed their design. Increasingly, as human pressure on marine ecosystems is expanding further offshore, governments are establishing offshore MPAs – some very large – or MPA networks. Globally, there are growing calls from scientists, non-government organisations and national governments to set global conservation targets upwards of 30% for marine protected areas. Given that most of the ocean is found either in the high seas or offshore within national Exclusive Economic Zones, large offshore MPAs or networks of MPAs must be a major component of these global targets for ocean protection. However, without adequate design, these offshore MPAs risk being placed to minimise conflict with economic interests, rather than to maximise biodiversity protection. This paper describes detailed biophysical guidelines that managers can use to design effective networks of no-take MPAs in offshore environments. We conducted a systematic review of existing biophysical design guidelines for networks of MPAs in coastal seas, and found consistent elements relating to size, shape, connectivity, timeframes and representation of biophysical features. However, few of the guidelines are tailored to offshore environments, and few of the large offshore MPAs currently in place were designed systematically. We discuss how the common inshore design guidelines should be revised to be responsive to the characteristics of offshore ecosystems, including giving consideration of issues of scale, data availability and uncertainty. We propose ten biophysical guidelines that can be used to systematically design offshore networks of MPAs which will also contribute to the global goal of at least 30% protection overall. Finally, we offer three priority guidelines that reflect the unique conservation needs of offshore ecosystems: emphasising the need for larger MPAs; maximising the inclusion of special features that are known and mapped; and representing minimum percentages of habitats, or, where mapped, bioregions.

中文翻译：

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如何在近海领域实现新的全球目标：禁捕海洋保护区近海网络的生物物理指南

禁止所有采掘活动的禁采海洋保护区 (MPA) 网络是直接保护海洋生态系统免受破坏性和不可持续的人类活动影响的最有效工具。禁止捕捞 MPA 和 MPA 网络已在全球沿海实施，并且在基于科学的生物物理指南为其设计提供信息的情况下，它们的成功得到了显着提高。随着人类对海洋生态系统的压力越来越大，越来越多的离岸海洋，政府正在建立离岸 MPA——一些非常大的——或 MPA 网络。在全球范围内，科学家、非政府组织和各国政府越来越多地呼吁为海洋保护区设定 30% 以上的全球保护目标。鉴于大部分海洋位于公海或国家专属经济区内的近海，大型近海海洋保护区或海洋保护区网络必须成为这些全球海洋保护目标的主要组成部分。然而，如果没有适当的设计，这些离岸海洋保护区可能会被置于最大限度地减少与经济利益的冲突，而不是最大限度地保护生物多样性。本文描述了详细的生物物理指导方针，管理人员可以使用这些指导方针来设计近海环境中有效的禁捕 MPA 网络。我们对沿海海洋保护区网络的现有生物物理设计指南进行了系统审查，并发现了与大小、形状、连通性、时间框架和生物物理特征表示相关的一致元素。然而，很少有指导方针是为离岸环境量身定制的，现有的大型海上海洋保护区很少是系统设计的。我们讨论了如何修改共同的近海设计指南以响应近海生态系统的特征，包括考虑规模、数据可用性和不确定性等问题。我们提出了十项生物物理指南，可用于系统地设计海洋保护区的海上网络，这也将有助于实现至少 30% 的整体保护的全球目标。最后，我们提供了三个反映近海生态系统独特保护需求的优先指南：强调需要更大的海洋保护区；最大限度地包含已知和映射的特殊功能；并代表栖息地的最小百分比，或者，在映射的情况下，生物区域。