Marine protected areas are key to reverse biodiversity loss and safeguard ecosystem services. In this study, we show a pronounced spatial mismatch between the existing global distribution of marine protected areas and marine conservation priorities, including multiple aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem services, highlighting that neither the world's most diverse, nor the most productive ecosystems are currently the most protected ecosystems. A hypothetical “consensus approach” would have been able to address these conservation priorities more effectively (see figure -- global map of differences between current levels of marine protection and levels produced using a hypothetical “consensus approach”. Areas highlighted in red and blue correspond to over- or under prioritized ecoregions with significantly higher or lower degree of protection relative to current levels, respectively.).
The paper can be read here
Martin Lindegren, Ben G. Holt, Brian R. MacKenzie & Carsten Rahbek 2018 A global mismatch in the protection of multiple marine biodiversity components and ecosystem services. Nature Scientific Reports