Global coverage of marine protected areas has increased significantly in recent years due to the proliferation of large marine protected areas (large MPAs).
Large MPAs are different from smaller MPAs in coastal areas. Their meaning and value for diverse groups are less visible and less understood. Their size and remoteness pose unprecedented governance challenges and opportunities. Their social, political, and economic impacts are understudied and potentially far-reaching, with implications for the populations of entire nations.
In 2014, a team of social scientists at Colorado State University , Duke University , and University of Guelph initiated an ambitious research and outreach project to generate and share new knowledge about the human dimensions of large MPAs. The project approaches large MPAs as a global movement, with an empirical focus on large MPAs proposed in Bermuda and Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) and designated in Kiribati, Palau, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands & Guam. In some of our case st