MARINE PROTECTED AREAS IN THE AZORES
The Study on the Economic Valorization of Ecosystem Services in the Azores Sea carried out by the University of California in 2017 concludes that the main economic activities in the region's sea are fishing and tourism. It also highlights the need to develop a blue economy that protects natural values, ensures the sustainable use of marine resources and improves the quality of life of all civil society, including through new employment opportunities.
The Study on the Economic Valorization of Ecosystem Services in the Azores Sea carried out by the University of California in 2017 concludes that the main economic activities in the region's sea are fishing and tourism. It also highlights the need to develop a blue economy that protects natural values, ensures the sustainable use of marine resources and improves the quality of life of all civil society, including through new employment opportunities.
MARINE PROTECTED AREAS AND THE
RELATIONSHIP OF THE AZOREANS WITH THE SEA
The history of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Azores helps highlights the relationship of Azorean communities with the sea. In the 1970s, after the Azores became an Autonomous Region, the Azorean economy faced challenges of underdevelopment due to the lack of investment, the islands’ remote location and the small size and dispersion of the archipelago in the Atlantic.
To reduce economic dependence, there was investment to increase and improve fishing fleets, open new markets, increase value of fish, transform artisanal fishing into a commercial activity, and improve air and sea connections with the archipelago.
However, with the intensification of fishing in the 1980s and the subsequent decline of marine resources, it became crucial to ensure effective management of these resources and to control fishing sector activities through restriction measures and conservation instruments such as MPAs.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE MPAs IN THE AZORES
In 1980, the Azores were among the first regions in the world to establish Marine Protected Areas, with the designation of the first marine reserve on Faial, the Bay of Caldeirinhas.
This MPA arose from the need to conserve limpet populations and is the only MPA in the region that currently prohibits any type of activity, extractive or recreational. At the same time, seven more MPAs with partial protection were designated.
However, in the 1990s, the intensification of commercial fishing due to incentive policies and external support, led to a decline in fish stocks, especially of red seabream. At the same time, the collapse of limpet populations has resulted in the creation of no-go zones for the harvesting of this species and coastal MPAs on all islands. These measures were integrated into a new legal framework, which introduced an updated classification system and a set of regulations to ensure adequate protection.
The creation of the Island Natural Park (PNI) and the Azores Archipelago Marine Park (PMA)
In 2007, the Island Natural Park (PNI) and the Azores Archipelago Marine Park (PMA) were created, standardizing the MPA typologies with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. Later that year, the islands of Corvo and Graciosa were named Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO, including part of their marine environments. In 2008, the first NIPs were created, integrating the coastal MPAs of the islands of Corvo, Pico, Faial, Graciosa and São Miguel.
Between 2006 and 2011 , the OSPAR Commission (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) included 11 Azorean MPAs in its network, with 7 located within the Portuguese EEZ and 4 in the proposed extension area of the continental shelf. In 2011, the Azores Marine Park was established for oceanic MPAs, and in 2012, the PNI areas of São Jorge, Terceira, Flores, and Santa Maria were created. That same year, the legal framework for nature conservation and biodiversity protection came into force. In 2016, with the amendment of Regional Legislative Decree No. 28/2011/A, MPA coverage in the Azores increased from 1% to 4% of the region's maritime area.
The "Rainbow" MPA, one of the MPAs included, was the first area proposed in PCE in the world to be accepted by OSPAR, placing the Azores once again at the forefront of marine conservation.
THE CONDOR SEAMOUNT
A CASE STUDY IN THE AZORES
The implementation of MPAs in the region has generally been without possibility of public participation.
An exception to the rule was the Condor seamount, an area prohibited from bottom fishing in 2010, whose conservation decision arose from a participatory process between scientists, local fishermen, maritime-tourism operators and the Regional Government of the Azores.
2009: Start of monitoring on this seamount to assess whether the closure of fishing has resulted in the recovery of demersal fish communities over time.
2010:
Ban on bottom fishing.
2016: Designated as a marine ocean protected area.
2022: Publication of a study conducted by Azorean scientists that confirms the benefits of Condor Bank protection for the demersal fish community, in a 10-year protection period (2010-2020)
The results indicated that demersal fish communities are effectively recovering, especially the Goraz species, considered one of the most important commercial species in the Azores, which showed positive results in terms of abundance and size of the fish.
THE REGION'S LEADERSHIP
IN MARINE CONSERVATION
In December 2021, the President of the XIII Regional Government of the Azores announced the goal of protecting 30% of the Azores sea, including 15% of fully protected areas.
This commitment was reaffirmed in 2024 at the United Nations Ocean Conference, highlighting the Azores' leadership in marine conservation, in a global context where less than 3% of the ocean is fully protected.
That same year, the region took a decisive step by approving the new Azorean Marine Protected Areas Network (RAMPA), consolidating its role in achieving the global goal of protecting 30% of the planet through MPAs.
This commitment reflects a science-based approach and reinforces the Archipelago's pioneering role in the protection and sustainable management of the ocean.
AMP IN THE AZORES
CURRENT SITUATION
50
MPAs
35
COASTAL
Integrated in the
Island Natural Parks
15
OCEANIC
Integrated in the
Azores Marine Park
4%
Of the Azores sea
is protected
287
thousand Km²
This coverage increases significantly (to about 250 thousand km2) if the WFP areas located in the proposed continental shelf extension (PCE) area are considered. However, many of these MPAs do not yet have adequate management plans and levels of protection.
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL REVISION OF THE AZORES MARINE PARK (RAMPA)
In 2024, the Regional Government of the Azores presented the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ALRAA) a draft amendment to the Regional Legislative Decree in force that proposes to review the Network of Marine Protected Areas of the Azores (RAMPA), of which the Azores Marine Park is a part.
The new Azores Marine Park will include oceanic Marine Protected Areas that will protect 30% of the Azores Sea, half of which will be totally forbidden to any extractive activity. This diploma also provides for the legal framework and legal deadlines for the implementation and management of the new network. In this proposal, the coastal Marine Protected Areas remain in the current legal framework of the Island Natural Parks.
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