Reaping the benefits: effective management and enforcement of Med MPAs

Marine protected areas pay off for fishers and coastal economies when they are managed, funded and enforced. A Med Sea Alliance event at COP Tuesday 10 November 2026, 16:15–17:00 (Antalya time) Zero Waste 2 Hub (Sıfır Atık 2), COP31 Green Zone, Antalya, Türkiye Declaring a marine protected area is only the first step. Well-managed MPAs bring back fish and support jobs and income in coastal communities, especially when fishers help run them. An MPA that exists only on paper delivers none of that. This 45-minute event looks at what it takes to make protection work on the water. Three short talks approach the question from different angles. The first looks at Gökova Bay in Türkiye, where no-fishing zones and community-based enforcement were developed together with local fishers. The second covers what well-managed MPAs deliver for fishers and coastal economies, with examples from Greece and a recent study by Blue Marine Foundation. The third explains the legal case brought against Italian regional authorities over bottom trawling inside MPAs. The speakers then discuss funding, management and enforcement: who should pay for MPA management, especially on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, what separates an MPA that works from one that doesn't, and how to bring fishers on board. The audience can put its own questions in the Q&A that follows. The event closes with three asks to governments: protect at least 30% of the Mediterranean by 2030, with at least 10% under strict protection; keep bottom trawling out of MPAs; and mobilise long-term finance, including climate adaptation finance, so that MPAs are managed and enforced across the whole basin, with a fair transition for affected fishers and communities. This event follows "Mediterranean coasts and climate change: the role of marine protection" at 12:30 the same day, which looks at why MPAs matter for coastal communities facing climate change. Agenda 16:15 Welcome 16:17 Protection that pays off: lessons from Gökova Bay 16:24 What well-managed MPAs deliver for fishers and coastal economies 16:31 When protection exists only on paper: the legal case on bottom trawling in Italian MPAs 16:38 Conversation: funding, management and enforcement 16:49 Audience Q&A 16:57 The asks and close Speakers Karlijn Steinbusch, Managing Director, Med Sea Alliance (host and moderator) Zafer Kızılkaya, Mediterranean Conservation Foundation Angela Lazou, Blue Marine Foundation Nils Courcy, ClientEarth Amjed Khiar Eddine, Notre Grand Bleu