The World Parks Congress is currently being held in Sydney, Australia. The  IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature highlights the important role of protected areas in conservation.  Managers and conservationists from around the globe will meet to assess progress, strategies and opportunities for improving protected areas.

A primary focus of this decennial event will be on global progress towards meeting protected area targets.  Unfortunately, countries are behind on ocean protection goals.  According to Marine Conservation Institute, just 2.1% of the global ocean is currently protected.

We have a lot of work to do. Some countries are doing better than others at protecting their waters, and there is hope that additional countries will come forward soon with new marine protected areas.  Australia itself has many marine protected areas under review that could change the global percentage rather dramatically.  

Check out the ICUN at http://worldparkscongress.org for more details