Data & Analysis

MPA Inventory

Ocean Uses Atlas

De Facto MPAs

Analysis of U.S. MPAs

Maps

The Marine Protected Areas Inventory

> Data & Analysis > MPA Inventory

The Marine Protected Areas Inventory (MPA Inventory) is a comprehensive geospatial database designed to catalog and

classify marine protected areas within US waters. The Inventory contains information on over 1,600 sites and is the only

such comprehensive dataset in the nation. The database has various applications for marine management and

conservation, but its primary purpose is to maintain baseline information on MPAs to the assist in the development of

the National System of MPAs, as defined in Executive Order 13158. This information should not be used for regulatory

purposes; please consult the Federal Register for the official record. The MPA Inventory was developed with extensive

input from state and federal MPA programs and drawn from other publically available data. The data and products

derived from the Inventory are served in various formats accessed by the links below. The MPA Center is continually

updating and verifying the Inventory data, so please contact us with any new site information, existing site clarifications

or updated spatial boundary data.

The data and products derived from the Inventory are served in various formats accessed by the links below.

Interactive Mapping Tool

This NEW application provides online access to the MPA Inventory data through an interactive map

environment. This tool can be used to view the MPA Inventory sites and associated data, query sites by

specific conservation attributes or to search and view sites by region. Click here to launch the MPA

Mapping Tool. (First time users, please expect a one-time delay while the application loads).

Tabular Data

The tabular data are current through January 2010 and include classification information on all 1, 619

sites in the MPA Inventory. These data are served in excel spreadsheet format (.xls) with FGDC

compliant metadata describing the data fields and classification attributes. Click here to download the

tabular data.

GIS Spatial Data

The GIS data for the MPA Inventory are current through January 2010 and include information on ~1,450

sites in the MPA Inventory for which GIS data are available. They are provided in shapefile [zip, 90MB]

and ESRI geodatabase [zip, 41.6MB] formats with FGDC compliant metadata describing the data

fields and classification attributes.

Maps

Follow this link to explore various maps and analytical products that have been derived from the MPA

Inventory data.

Documents

See links below for background documents and related resources for the MPA Inventory:

Coastal and Ocean Management and Use Databases for Diverse Applications

Snapshot of United States MPAs

If you would like to propose the addition of an MPA to the MPA Inventory, please complete the form below and return to

the MPA Inventory team.

MPA Inventory ‒ New Site Form

For more information, contact:

Mimi D'Iorio

GIS Manager

Mimi.Diorio@noaa.gov

MPA NOAA Search

About MPAs National System Data & Analysis Resources Science & Stewardship Advisory Committee

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Revised October 21, 2010 | Site jointly managed by the U.S. Department of Commerce / NOAA and the U.S. Department of the Interior

Web Site Owner: National Ocean Service

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