IMPAC3: 3rd World Marine Protected Areas Congress

The 3rd World Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC 3) will take place in Marseilles and in Corsica in France from 21 to 27 October 2013.

The French Marine Protected Areas Agency (MPAA), together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is organizing the 3rd International Marine Protected Areas Congress in Marseille and Corsica from Oct. 21 to 27, 2013.

After Australia in 2005 and the United States in 2009, France is organizing the 2013 International Marine Areas Congress in two Mediterranean locations : Marseille and Corsica.

In October 2005, The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority initiated the very first International Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Conference in Geelong, Australia. It sought to define the various categories of MPAs and to review the state of marine ecosystems. Then in 2009, IMPAC2 was hosted in Washington, D.C., by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. It witnessed the rising relevance of public agencies in creating and managing MPAs.

Now the French MPAA has been commissioned by the French Ministry in charge of Ecology to organize the third IMPAC Congress, jointly with the IUCN. IMPAC3 represents a key milestone towards meeting the international objective of protecting 10 percent of the planet’s marine areas by 2020, as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity.

More information.