Marine Protected Areas and Cultural Heritage
Over the past two decades, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have emerged as one of the primary legislative initiatives used to protect the marine environment. Additionally, they are recognised as being an integral management mechanism used to address Climate Change, and can be a driver for sustainable community development. To date, these areas have been used primarily to protect the natural environment, but there is both a clear justification and need to integrate cultural heritage into this network of sites to a far greater extent.