WWF in the Arctic: Barents Sea

Priority areas for conservation

Today, less than one percent of the Barents Sea is protected. Protection of a representative set of natural habitats is vital to any attempt to conserve biodiversity in a region. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are necessary to secure the survival of key species, ecosystem components, and processes that are important to and representative of the Ecoregion.

WWF has identified priority areas for conservation in the Barents Sea. These are areas of special importance for biodiversity and for the marine ecosystems that are particularly vulnerable to human activities.

With very few exceptions, none of the few and small existing protected areas in the Ecoregion have been designed particularly for marine life. There is virtually no overlap between present conservation areas in the Barents Sea Ecoregion and the priority areas identified.

A network of MPAs will not only benefit conservation, but also communities by protecting renewable natural resources that will be the basis for long-term sustainable development, and for businesses by providing predictability for investors, developers, governments and other stakeholders.

Today, very few of the most vulnerable areas or important ecosystems are given protection at all. The priority conservation areas identified on the map are therefore natural starting points when planning a future network of MPAs in the Barents Sea ecoregion.

For a detailed description of the priority areas, please see the Barents Sea Ecoregion Biodiversity Assessment.