In December 2022, nearly 200 nations committed to protecting 30% of Earth’s lands and waters by 2030. As of 2025, about 9.6% of the world’s oceans are now covered by marine protected areas, according to the latest global tracking data by the World Database on Protected Areas. This marks a 1.2% increase in 2025, up from 8.4% coverage in 2024.
There are now 16,608 marine protected areas (MPAs) globally, covering nearly 35 million square kilometers (13.5 million square miles) of the ocean — an area more than twice the size of Russia. However, only 3.2% of these areas are considered highly or fully protected, according to the Marine Conservation Institute’s MPAtlas. This raises concerns about areas that are protected on paper only, including ones that allow bottom trawling and other highly destructive activities.
Mongabay chronicled some of the progress made toward protecting the oceans in 2025:
French Polynesia announces world’s largest marine protected area
In June, French Polynesia (Mā’ohi Nui), an autonomous territory in the Pacific that’s a part of the French Republic, announced it would protect the territory’s entire exclusive economic zone, amounting to 4.8 million km2 (1.9 million mi2) of its waters. Of this, more than 1 million km2 (nearly 420,000 mi2) is set to be highly and fully protected, where no extractive fishing or mining is allowed. The announcement has not yet been written into law.
Coral hotspot off Philippines’ Panaon Island
In August, the Philippines created the Panaon Island Protected Seascape, protecting 612 km2 (236 mi2) within the Pacific Coral Triangle. The region is home to more marine species than anywhere else in the world, endangered whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and endangered Philippine ducks (Anas luzonica).
Pakistan declares a third marine protected area
In September, Pakistan declared a marine protected area around Miani Hor Lagoon, a biodiversity hotspot on the country’s central coast. The measure protects mangrove forests and bird and marine mammal species, such as Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) and endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea). Measuring nearly 43 km2 (16.5 mi2), the area protected isn’t large but holds high biodiversity value.
Samoa protects 30% of its ocean
In May, the Pacific island nation of Samoa created nine new marine protected areas covering 30% of its ocean. The area, spanning 35,936 km2 (13,875 mi2) of biodiversity-rich deep trenches and seamounts, is home to critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and an endemic fish, Taei’s dwarfgoby (Eviota taeiae), found only on Samoan reefs.
Marshall Islands protects ‘pristine’ Pacific corals
In January, another Pacific nation, the Marshall Islands, announced it would protect one of Earth’s most pristine coral reefs with a 48,000-km2 (18,500-mi2) marine sanctuary. The sanctuary surrounds two uninhabited atolls, Bikar and Bokak, located in the remote northernmost part of the island nation. The region has the highest reef fish biomass in the Pacific Ocean.
Banner image: A Samoan coral reef from the air. Image courtesy of Andy Estep.
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