{"id":4613,"date":"2025-08-12T22:07:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T22:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/?p=4613"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:50:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:50:32","slug":"california-marine-protected-area-leads-ocean-conservation-iucn-green-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/2025\/08\/12\/california-marine-protected-area-leads-ocean-conservation-iucn-green-list\/","title":{"rendered":"California’s marine protected areas recognized as gold standard for conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n \n The Wrigley Marine Science Center sits on Catalina Island’s Big Fisherman Cove, which is part of California’s network of marine protected areas. The USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability, along with local Catalina Island groups, stewards the cove and the broader marine reserve that encompasses it. (Photo: Nick Neumann\/USC Wrigley Institute)\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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California’s marine protected areas recognized as gold standard for conservation<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Wrigley Marine Science Center’s Big Fisherman Cove is part of state network accepted to IUCN Green List\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n August 12, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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By Kathryn Royster<\/em><\/p>\n

In June, California\u2019s marine protected area network<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0officially accepted<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/a>\u00a0(IUCN)\u00a0Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas<\/a>, a high-profile international certification that recognizes the most successful examples of biodiversity conservation worldwide. California\u2019s system of marine protected areas (MPAs), the largest in North America, is the first nature network in the world to receive this honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that California\u2019s marine protected area network will join the IUCN Green List,\u201d said\u00a0Wade Crowfoot,\u00a0California\u2019s Secretary for Natural Resources. \u201cAs the first nature network in the world to be awarded Green List status, the system of 124 protected areas along our coast provides an important model of science-based conservation at large scale. Nature networks like this are essential to protect and restore nature across our planet and help all life thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

California\u2019s MPAs span the state\u2019s 1,100-mile coastline and cover 16% of state waters. Just as California\u2019s State Parks protect special places on land, MPAs protect a variety of iconic coastal and marine ecosystems, from sandy beaches and estuaries to kelp forests and deep underwater canyons. About half of the MPA network is fully protected by no-take marine reserves.<\/p>\n

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Preserving a Biodiverse Future for the Next Generation<\/h2>\n

One of these no-take reserves is Santa Catalina Island’s Big Fisherman Cove, adjacent to the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability’s Wrigley Marine Science Center (WMSC). Originally part of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge, which was created in the late 1970s, the cove became part of the Blue Cavern Onshore State Marine Conservation Area<\/a> in 2012.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO: A student-guided tour of Blue Cavern SMCA<\/h3>\n