Opinion piece: Drawing lines on a map won’t save the ocean

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, president, International Union for Conservation of Nature

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak is a global leader in nature conservation and climate action, serving as president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For more than 20 years she has shaped environmental policy in the United Arab Emirates and abroad, championing species conservation and climate resilience. She is executive managing director of The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, which has supported over 3,000 projects worldwide. She also serves as managing director of the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi and Emirates Nature-WWF. On the global stage, she is the UAE Sherpa for the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy and co-chairs the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

The ocean covers more than 70% of our planet. It regulates the climate, feeds billions of people, and generates economic value worth trillions of dollars. Yet it is in crisis. Overfishing, pollution and climate change are pushing marine ecosystems to their limits.

In response, governments have turned to marine protected areas (MPAs). Their spread has been dramatic: from less than 1% of the ocean protected two decades ago to about 8% today. Ambitious targets like protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 have become rallying cries for the global conservation movement.

But here is the uncomfortable truth: much of this protection exists only on paper. Many MPAs lack management, enforcement and funding. They are “paper parks”: lines on a map that give the illusion of progress while ecosystems keep degrading.

As President of IUCN—the world’s largest environmental union, with over 1,400 members from governments, civil society and Indigenous peoples’ organisations—I believe the next frontier of ocean protection is not drawing more MPAs but making existing ones work.

The scale of the illusion

When new MPAs are announced, headlines celebrate percentages: “X% of national waters now under protection.” These numbers are politically attractive, easy to communicate and visually impressive on a map. But quantity is not quality.

Consider the reality. Some of the largest MPAs—vast stretches of open ocean—have no staff, no monitoring and no enforcement. Meanwhile, heavily fished coastal waters, where biodiversity is most vulnerable and communities most reliant on marine resources for their livelihoods, remain unprotected or poorly managed. In some cases, protections are rolled back as quickly as they are declared, often under pressure from industry. A line on a map can be erased with the stroke of a pen.

This gap between promise and performance is not just technical; it is a question of credibility. If conservation is reduced to an accounting exercise, public trust in international commitments will erode.

What effective MPAs require

Closing this gap, however, is possible. IUCN has been at the forefront of developing tools and standards to make protection real. Our Protected Area Management Categories—ranging from strict reserves to sustainable-use areas—clarify what kind of protection an MPA offers. Our Green List Standard sets a global benchmark for quality management, ensuring that protected areas are not just declared but durable.

Effective MPAs share common traits. They rest on sound science, targeting habitats and species most in need of protection. They are supported by adequate financing and enforcement, with staff trained to monitor and respond to threats. And critically, they are co-managed with local communities and Indigenous peoples, whose knowledge and stewardship are indispensable. Protection does not mean exclusion; it means sustainable use for people and nature alike.

The evidence is clear: when MPAs are well designed and well managed, they deliver. Fish populations rebound. Coral reefs recover. Coasts grow more resilient. In some cases, surrounding fisheries benefit through the “spillover effect”, boosting catches for fishers outside protected zones.

But none of this happens by accident. It takes governance, investment and long-term commitment.

The finance gap

At the heart of the challenge is a stark mismatch: the ocean generates vast economic value yet attracts less than 1% of climate finance.

MPAs are too often seen as costs, not assets. Budgets file them alongside subsidies or social spending, instead of recognising them as infrastructure investments that secure food, shield coastal communities from storms and lock away carbon in mangroves and seagrass. We do not hesitate to protect airports, energy grids and ports as strategic assets. Oceans are worth far more, yet we fail to invest in their security.

Correcting this imbalance will require financial innovation: blue bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, blended finance and other tools that align the interests of governments, investors and communities. Above all, it means reframing ocean protection as the bedrock of economic resilience, not a rival to it.

Beyond numbers: from 30x30 to real protection

The global goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030—agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—is a powerful rallying point. But poorly managed reserves, however vast, achieve little: 30% badly run is no better than none.

At IUCN, we believe that success should be measured not by how much we protect, but how well. That means shifting attention from declarations to delivery, from percentages to performance, from political signalling to lasting impact. The new High Seas Treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) is a vital step in this direction.

The upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi this October is a chance to move from ambition to action. Every four years, our Union brings together governments, scientists, Indigenous peoples, businesses and youth to shape the global conservation agenda. This year, the Congress can help chart a course to make 30x30 real—by promoting global standards, sharing lessons from effective MPAs, and mobilising the finance and partnerships needed to turn promises into practice.

A call to action

The ocean is too vast, too dynamic and too vital to be protected by cartography alone. We must resist the false comfort of lines on a map. True protection means investment in effective management and enforcement, empowered communities, and integration into global climate and economic strategies.

IUCN stands ready to support governments and communities with the science, standards and networks to make this possible. But responsibility rests with all of us: policymakers to legislate, businesses to finance, civil society to hold institutions accountable and communities to lead stewardship.

We have the chance to make 30x30 more than a slogan—not with more lines on a map, but with protection that is enforced, durable and fair. Because in the end, success will not be measured by how the map looks, but whether the ocean thrives.