‘Marine Prosperity Areas’ represent a new hope inconservation

Could 2025 be the year marine protection efforts get a “glow up”? According to a team of conservation-minded researchers, including Octavio Aburto of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the moment has arrived.

In a new study published Feb. 6 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, Aburto and a multinational team of marine scientists and economists unveil a comprehensive framework for Marine Prosperity Areas, or MPpAs. With a focus on prosperity—the condition of being successful or thriving—this science-informed effort aligns human well-being with the restoration of designated marine and coastal environments.

Marine Prosperity Areas mark a more holistic approach to marine conservation, with a framework that seeks to use targeted financial investments to enhance human prosperity during periods of active ecological restoration. To fully realize the vision for Marine Prosperity Areas, the study authors are calling on governments, non-governmental organizations, and local stakeholders to champion MPpAs as a cornerstone of global conservation efforts, committing to the investments and partnerships necessary to build a sustainable future.

“Conservation often demands sacrifices today for benefits decades in the future—an unrealistic expectation for communities facing immediate socio-economic pressures,” said Aburto, lead author of the study and professor of marine biology at Scripps Oceanography. “Our model for Marine Prosperity Areas addresses this challenge, outlining how human prosperity can be improved while we wait for ecological recovery. By strategically aligning recovery efforts, it is possible for both people and ecosystems to thrive.”

If implemented, Marine Prosperity Areas have the power to be a leading tool for achieving global conservation targets, said the authors. This includes the "30 by 30" target set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an international commitment to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.

The new framework builds upon several decades of research on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), fisheries, and coastal habitats in Baja California Peninsula, Mexico, and throughout the Gulf of California—one of the world’s most important marine hotspots. The authors recognized the need to transform the existing model for implementing marine protections because, despite decades of efforts, there has been no unifying framework. The new model employs strategic financial investments and tailored community partnerships to align the realms of ecological conservation, economic growth, environmental responsibility, and social policy—ultimately benefiting both people and the planet.

For example, in marine areas with great natural beauty, seed funding could promote ecotourism by supporting community-based diving or snorkeling enterprises. In other areas, small grants could help locals establish sustainable aquaculture initiatives or fund technological efforts to create artificial reefs for environmental restoration. Overall, the focus is on nurturing opportunities for community members to diversify their livelihoods, sustainably manage natural resources, and drive economic growth.

“The concept of Marine Prosperity Areas can help us to bridge the gap between environmental and social outcomes,” said study co-author Alfredo Giron, a Scripps Oceanography alumnus now serving as head of the World Economic Forum's Ocean Action Agenda and Friends of Ocean Action. “It gives us the opportunity to understand that nature and people are inextricably linked and as such, a marine management plan has to pursue outcomes for both.”

The authors identified three distinct phases—called “Pillars on Intervention”—that characterize the establishment of a Marine Prosperity Area:

1. Community Engagement and Co-Design: The primary focus is to mobilize the community and actively engage all relevant stakeholders in collaboratively defining prosperity and envisioning pathways to achieve it. This phase prioritizes the co-design of sustainable strategies for using marine resources and aligns with the aspirations of the local community, fostering a sense of inclusion.  

2. Capacity Building, Governance, and Infrastructure: The goal of this stage is to establish the essential building blocks for the Marine Prosperity Area. This includes investing in community capacity to design and implement the MPpA, developing a governance system with legal and statutory frameworks to oversee it, integrating conflict resolution mechanisms, and creating the infrastructure for enforcement.

3. Monitoring, Enforcement, and Co-Management: This stage forms the basis for the implementation of a collaborative and adaptive management framework. Effective enforcement and monitoring activities are integral, providing scientific data to continuously inform management decisions, and allowing stakeholders to enhance all dimensions of prosperity.

The prosperity-centric framework is an ambitious plan with a long-term vision, said the authors. It leverages a suite of “tried-and-true” community-based intervention and investment strategies to strengthen and expand access to environmental science, social goods and services, and the financial perks of the blue economy.

“This concept offers a roadmap for inclusive and impactful conservation, where both communities and nature can thrive, provided that investment and proactive participation are prioritized,” said study co-author Catalina Lopez, director of the Gulf of California Marine Program, Institute of the Americas.

The authors looked to several marine protection case studies as a guiding light, such as the establishment of Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park in 1995. Located in Baja California Sur, Mexico, this small “no-take” marine reserve was once depleted by decades of overfishing and pollution. A collaborative conservation effort led by scientists, the Mexican government, and the Cabo Pulmo community—including local fishermen—has allowed local fish populations to replenish and recover, benefiting both the ocean environment and the economy.

In addition to Cabo Pulmo, marine protection successes in Mexico’s La Paz and Santa Maria Bay helped shape the design of the new framework. All three efforts benefited from strong community involvement and sustainable funding, with seed money or small grants being essential to their success.

Not all marine protection efforts have been as successful, though. In some cases, the community was not able to be fully on board due to financial challenges as they awaited the long road to ecosystem recovery. The new framework seeks to remedy this challenge by proactively funding efforts to support human prosperity, rather than passively relying on ecosystem recovery to catalyze social change and economic growth.

It also seeks to accommodate the interests and needs of a wide range of stakeholders, including economic sectors dependent on extractive and non-extractive uses of the marine environment, as well as Indigenous peoples, local communities and other underserved groups.

“One of the greatest challenges in its successful implementation will be ensuring sustained support for this vision throughout all stages,” said study co-author Valentina Platzgummer, coordinator of the Conservation Leadership Program and researcher at the Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación, A.C. “It will be crucial to maintain a long-term commitment from all stakeholders, both in terms of funds and support, to navigate the complexities and ensure the framework's goals are achieved.”

The authors emphasized that there’s already a “strong desire” from many individuals and organizations to contribute to and support initiatives like Marine Prosperity Areas. This collective sense of partnership will be crucial to the long-term success of any conservation effort.

“This eagerness to collaborate is essential and I am confident that with organized and focused efforts, we can achieve the systemic change needed to protect and sustain our oceans,” said study co-author Rocío Abud Mirabent, director of Fundación Coppel, an organization that works with partners to improve the lives of people in Mexico.

As a whole, the proposed Marine Prosperity Area framework offers a hopeful vision where thriving ecosystems and prosperous communities can co-exist, restoring the bond between people and the sea. The framework is also highly adaptable, said the authors, making it well-suited for global implementation.

“This vision is not only achievable but essential for our collective well-being in the face of growing environmental and social challenges,” they wrote.

Additional co-authors of the study are Erica Ferrer of UC Santa Cruz, América Ávalos Galindo and Claudia Núñez Sañudo of Fundación Coppel in Mexico, Fabio Favoretto of Scripps Oceanography, Isabel Mendoza Camacho of SUCEDE Sociedad en Acción Sinaloa in Mexico, Marisol Plascencia de La Cruz of Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación in Mexico, and Alejandro Robles of NOS Noroeste Sustentable in Mexico.

Funding for individual research team members came from the Mary Jameson Foundation, the Baum Foundation, the UC Santa Cruz Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.