International plans to increase marine protected areas (MPAs) to cover 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030 will not be sufficient to conserve many of the world’s largest marine creatures, according to new findings by hundreds of international scientists including KAUST researchers as part of the MegaMove project.

Habitats and ecosystems in the world’s oceans face growing threats, from anthropogenic activities, such as fishing and industry, to the deeper pressures posed by climate change. Tied to the fate of the oceans are the fates of marine life, from the smallest creatures to the largest – marine megafauna. Over a third of marine megafauna species, including the hawksbill turtle, the North Atlantic right whale, and the shortfin mako shark, are now threatened with extinction.

Recent global commitments via the United Nations High Seas Treaty and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) seek to protect, conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans. But this is unlikely to be enough.

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