In the last 50 years marine conservation has grown from almost nothing to become a major topic of global activity involving many people and organisations. Marine conservation activities have been applied to a huge diversity of species, habitats, ecosystems and whole seas. Many marine conservation actions have focused on human impacts on the marine environment from development and pollution to the impacts of fisheries. Whilst science has provided the backbone of thinking on marine conservation, perhaps the biggest change over this period has been the use of an ever-increasing range of techniques and disciplines to further marine conservation ends.

Bob Earll explores what marine conservation involves in practice by providing a synthesis of the main developments from the viewpoints of 19 leading practitioners and pioneers who have helped shape its progress and successes.

Their narratives highlight the diversity and richness of activity, and the realities of delivering marine conservation in practice with reference to a host of projects and case studies. Many of these narratives demonstrate how innovative conservationists have been – often developing novel approaches to problems where little information and no frameworks exist. The case studies described are based on a wide range of European and international projects.

This book takes an in-depth look at the reality of delivering marine conservation in practice, where achieving change is often a complicated process, with barriers to overcome that have nothing to do with science. Marine conservationists will often be working with stakeholders for whom marine conservation is not a priority. This book aims to help readers describe and understand those realities, and shows that successful and inspirational projects can be delivered against the odds.