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Nations of the world have committed to a number of goals and targets to address global environmental challenges. Protected areas have for centuries been a key strategy in conservation and play a major role in addressing current challenges. The most important tool used to track progress on protected-area commitments is the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). Periodic assessments of the world’s protected-area estate show steady growth over the last 2 decades. However, the current method, which uses the latest version of the WDPA, does not show the true dynamic nature of protected areas over time and does not provide information on sites removed from the WDPA. In reality, this method can only show growth or remain stable. We used GIS tools in an approach to assess protected-area change over time based on 12 temporally distinct versions of the WDPA that quantify area added and removed from the WDPA annually from 2004 to 2016. Both the narrative of continual growth of protected area and the counter-narrative of protected area removal were overly simplistic. The former because growth was almost entirely in the marine realm and the latter because some areas removed were reprotected in later years. On average 2.5 million km² was added to the WDPA annually and 1.1 million km² was removed. Reasons for the inclusion and removal of protected areas in the WDPA database were in part due to data-quality issues but also to on-the-ground changes. To meet the 17% protected-area component of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 by 2020, which stood at 14.7% in 2016, either the rate of protected-area removal must decrease or the rate of protected-area designation and addition to the WDPA must increase. Países alrededor del mundo se han comprometido con un número de metas y objetivos para tratar los retos ambientales mundiales. Las áreas protegidas han funcionado durante siglos como una estrategia clave en la conservación y juegan un papel importante en cómo se manejan los retos actuales. La herramienta más importante que se usa para rastrear el progreso de los compromisos con las áreas protegidas es la Base de Datos Mundial de las Áreas Protegidas (WDPA, en inglés). Las evaluaciones periódicas de los bienes de las áreas protegidas muestranun crecimiento constante durante las últimas dos décadas. Sin embargo, el método actual, que usa la versión más reciente de la WDPA, no muestra la verdadera naturaleza dinámica de las áreas protegidas a lo largo del tiempo y no proporciona informaciónsobre sitiosquehan sidoremovidos dela WDPA. En realidad este método sólo puede mostrar crecimiento o permanecer estable. Usamos herramientas de SIG en una estrategia para evaluar el cambio de las áreas protegidas a lo largo del tiempo con base en doce versiones temporalmente distintas de la WDPA que cuantifican las áreas añadidas o removidas de la WDPA anualmente desde 2004 hasta 2016. Tanto la narrativa del crecimiento continuo de un área protegida como la contra-narrativa de la eliminación de un área protegida fueron exageradamente simplistas. La primera se debe a que el crecimiento ocurrió casi en su mayoría en el dominio marino y la segunda a que algunas áreas eliminadas fueron reprotegidas años después. En promedio se añadieron 2.5 millones de km² a la WDPA anualmente y 1.1 millones de km² fueron removidos. Las razones para la inclusión y la eliminación de las áreas protegidas de la base de datos de la WDPA se debieron en parte a temas de calidad de datos pero también a cambios hechos sobre la marcha. Para lograr el 17% del componente de áreas protegidas del Objetivo 11 de Biodiversidad de Aichi para el 2020, el cual se encontraba al 14.7% en 2016, se debe disminuir la tasa de eliminación de áreas protegidas o se debe incrementar la tasa de designación y suma de áreas protegidas a la WDPA. 世界各国都在致力于实现一系列目标以应对全球环境变化的挑故。几个世纪以来保护区一直是实施保 护的重要策略，在应对目前的挑战中也起到重要作用。要追踪对保护区建设实施的进展，最重要的工具就是世界 保护区数据库(World Database on Protected Areas, WDPA)。对全球保护区的周期性评估显示，过去二十年来 受保护的区域在稳定增加。然而，目前使用最新版本 WDPA 数据库的方法并不能体现保护区随时间变化的真实 动态，也不能提供那些从 WDPA 中去除的位点的信息。事实上这个方法只能显示增长或保持稳定的动态。我 们用GIS工具根据12十不同时期的 WDPA 版本评估了保护区随时间的变化这ー方法定量7 2004 年到 2016 年 WDPA 毎年新增和去除的地区。保护区的持续增加和保护区的去除的描述都过于简单化。前者是因为増加 的地区几乎都是海洋，后者则是因为ー些被去除的地区随后几年又重新得到了保护。WDPA 中保护区平均毎年 増加 250 万平方公里，去除110万平方公里。WDPA 数据库中保护区新增和去除的原因有的是数据质量问题， 有的则是发生了真实的变化。为7在 2020 年达到爱知生物多样性目标U 中保护区覆盖17%的S 标 (2016 年 为14.7%) ス必须降低保护区被去除的速率，或增加划定保护区并加入 WDPA 数据库的速率。

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are conservation tools that are increasingly implemented, with growing national commitments for MPA expansion. Perhaps the greatest challenge to expanded use of MPAs is the perceived trade-off between protection and food production. Since MPAs can benefit both conservation and fisheries in areas experiencing overfishing and since overfishing is common in many coastal nations, we ask how MPAs can be designed specifically to improve fisheries yields. We assembled distribution, life history, and fisheries exploitation data for 1,338 commercially important stocks to derive an optimized network of MPAs globally. We show that strategically expanding the existing global MPA network to protect an additional 5% of the ocean could increase future catch by at least 20% via spillover, generating 9 to 12 million metric tons more food annually than in a business-as-usual world with no additional protection. Our results demonstrate how food provisioning can be a central driver of MPA design, offering a pathway to strategically conserve ocean areas while securing seafood for the future.

The concept of biodiversity hotspots has long guided spatial conservation planning. Although many marine‐protected areas (MPAs) overlap with ecological hotspots, they often face resistance when they overlook existing livelihoods. Non‐extractive economies in many coastal regions, such as dive tourism, already thrive but lack formal protection, leaving both ecosystems and local income vulnerable to degradation. We coined the concept of blue spots: spatial areas where socio‐economic conditions already favor conservation. Using Cabo Pulmo National Park as a benchmark, we applied a national‐scale spatial model across 392,000 km2 territorial sea and identified 300 blue spots, including 30 high‐priority sites. Bioeconomic simulations show that protecting these areas could increase tourism revenues by more than 70% over a decade while avoiding the opportunity costs of business‐as‐usual degradation. These findings suggest that blue spots can accelerate conservation outcomes, reduce socio‐economic conflict, and deliver faster economic returns than conventional conservation strategies. Rather than requiring communities to transition away from extractive activities, blue spots offer a pragmatic pathway to scale fully protected MPAs by reinforcing existing ecotourism, community support, and infrastructure. Protecting what is already working today may be one of the most effective strategies to meet both ecological and socio‐economic goals.

Designated large-scale marine protected areas (LSMPAs, 100,000 or more square kilometers) constitute over two-thirds of the approximately 6.6% of the ocean and approximately 14.5% of the exclusive economic zones within marine protected areas. Although LSMPAs have received support among scientists and conservation bodies for wilderness protection, regional ecological connectivity, and improving resilience to climate change, there are also concerns. We identified 10 common criticisms of LSMPAs along three themes: (1) placement, governance, and management; (2) political expediency; and (3) social–ecological value and cost. Through critical evaluation of scientific evidence, we discuss the value, achievements, challenges, and potential of LSMPAs in these arenas. We conclude that although some criticisms are valid and need addressing, none pertain exclusively to LSMPAs, and many involve challenges ubiquitous in management. We argue that LSMPAs are an important component of a diversified management portfolio that tempers potential losses, hedges against uncertainty, and enhances the probability of achieving sustainably managed oceans.

The conservation of migratory marine species, including pelagic seabirds, is challenging because their movements span vast distances frequently beyond national jurisdictions. Here, we aim to identify important aggregations of seabirds in the North Atlantic to inform ongoing regional conservation efforts. Using tracking, phenology, and population data, we mapped the abundance and diversity of 21 seabird species. This revealed a major hotspot associated with a discrete area of the subpolar frontal zone, used annually by 2.9–5 million seabirds from ≥56 colonies in the Atlantic: the first time this magnitude of seabird concentrations has been documented in the high seas. The hotspot is temporally stable and amenable to site‐based conservation and is under consideration as a marine protected area by the OSPAR Commission. Protection could help mitigate current and future threats facing species in the area. Overall, our approach provides an exemplar data‐driven pathway for future conservation efforts on the high seas.