In collaboration with Google and many other partners, IUCN WCPA-Marine has developed the world’s first and only global Google Earth layer of MPAs, full of exciting photos, videos, and stories about the world’s protected ocean places.

Users can upload new photos and videos from MPAs they have visited at our interactive MPA pages – visit them now!

The Google Earth popup balloons available for each MPA, as well as the MPA pages shown here at Protect Planet Ocean, function as FREE mini-websites for each of the world’s MPAs. This is a critical communication and information management tool for many MPA managers who may not have the resources to develop and maintain their own website.

Download Google Earth v5.0 (or higher) here and see our MPA layer!

• Download the latest version of Google Earth (free) from earth.google.com and the Ocean folder will automatically be included in the 'Layers' panel - bottom left of the Google Earth screen
• Click on the Ocean folder in the Layers navigation panel on left side of page to view all of the built-in ocean layers, including the Marine Protected Area (MPA) layer;
• Check the box next to 'Marine Protected Areas' to turn the layer on;
• If you want to be able to swim under the sea surface, be sure to also have the "terrain" layer turned on (this is the very last layer in the layers panel).

IUCN and Google have teamed up to develop a training programme for people who wish to learn to use Google Earth to create and edit spatial data, as well as to use Google Earth to better communicate about their conservation issues. Google Earth software is:
• free,
• lightweight
• easy to learn and use,
• and can be used online or offline.

As such Google Earth is a highly cost-effective option for many MPA managers, and ocean resource managers in general, who may not have the resources to pay for expensive mapping software or the high-powered computers needed to support them.

Download our Google Earth layer of our trainees here and find someone near you who has been to a training session – they may be able to help you!

Training Resources:

To hear about future training workshops, email iucn_getraining@protectplanetocean.org, or

Download handbooks used during training sessions, and teach yourself:
• About Oceans in Google Earth - download
• How to create and edit spatial data in Google Earth - download
• How to upload and edit content to the MPA layer - download
• How to use Panoramio - download
• How to use YouTube - download

For trainees only:
Once you have taken a training session, you can add yourself to our layer of Google Earth Trainees here!
Give us your feedback here! (It’s anonymous!)
Files for use during training: latlong.csv ; latlong.kmz 

Past Training Workshops:

International Marine Conservation Congress, Fairvax, Virginia, USA. 20-24 May 2009

When:
Day: 21, 22, 23, and 24 May, 2009
Time: 1.30 – 4pm
A total of 4 identical workshops: trainees need only sign up for ONE date/time.

Where:
JC Bistro, Room 150, Johnson Center, George Mason University

What to bring:
Laptop with Google Earth v5.0 already installed (download here); external mouse (recommended but not essential);

How to register:
Workshops are now full; email iucn_getraining@protectplanetocean.org to enquire about vacancies

World Ocean Conference, Manado, Indonesia: 11-15 May 2009
When:
Day: 12, 13, 14 May 2009;
Time: 9am – 11am; 11am – 1pm; 1pm – 3pm; 3pm – 5pm
A total of 12 identical workshops – trainees need only sign up for ONE date/time.

Where:
International Ocean, Science, and Technology Exhibition, Nyiur Malambai Exhibition Centre, Manado

What to bring:
Yourselves!

The Science of Marine Reserves

High levels of protection allow the marine environment to recover and species and habitats to flourish. Recent work by PISCO on the science of marine reserves has brought together all the latest peer reviewed scientific studies on MPA around the world. By taking a tour of these site you will be able to learn more about what species have benefited, and the changes that have occurred. You can even stop fishing in these areas and see for yourself what happens!

Download the Science of Marine Reserves tour here

Global Fisheries, from 1950-2004

Overfishing, driven by subsidies of over about 30 billion US $ per year, has depleted fish populations worldwide, and is compromising ecosystem structure and function. The costs are becoming increasingly unacceptable. The Sea Around Us Project at the University of British Columbia, Canada, has assembled global databases of catches, distributions of commercial marine species, countries fishing access agreements, ex-vessel prices, marine protected areas and other data, and mapped these. This information, integrated using powerful new analyses, enabled us to illustrate worrying ecosystem impacts of fisheries.

This layer presents the data in three ways:

1. A clickable layer that provides static summaries of total catches made in countries' territories and on the high seas;
2. A dynamic animation of the annual catch rates (in tonnes per km² per year, showing where fisheries started, collapsed, and subsequently moved to;
3. A dynamic animation of the spread of fisheries across the globe.

You can also open our MPA layer directly from this fisheries layer, and see where MPAs might be starting to help mitigate the negative impacts of fisheries.

Download the layer here!