Marine protected areas (MPAs): interactions with fishery livelihoods and food security

Building on work presented at the IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) held in Sydney, Australia, on 12–19 November 2014, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and the IUCN Fisheries Expert Group (FEG) prepared a technical paper on Marine protected areas: Interactions with fishery livelihoods and food security. The document includes (i) ten papers reporting on the interface of MPA/protected areas with livelihoods and food security, based on case studies in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania; (ii) an eleventh contribution providing a more general overview of MPAs and food security and how to assess their impact; and (iii) a final paper synthesizing the conclusions of the papers and discussing the observed outcomes of aquatic PAs, together with problems and solutions.

The purpose of the session is to present the main contents and conclusions of the FAO-IUCN/FEG technical paper and raise awareness on MPAs and its relation to fishery livelihoods and food security.