Marine protected areas overview
22 December 2008
According to the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (World Protected Areas Data Base, 2008), some 125 protected areas have been designated bordering the Black Sea coast. These vary in size from tiny scientific reserves of 1 ha up to the newly designated Zernov's Phyllophora Field in the northwest shelf of Ukraine (402,500 ha). However, in many cases, it is not clear from the designation data whether or not any coastal zones, let alone sub-shore marine waters, are covered by the protected area, so the list provided here must be treated with caution. At present, it appears that some 1.1 million ha of coastal/marine protected areas have been designated by Black Sea countries, but about half of this is represented by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve in Romania alone. Read more on this topic here.