The development of MPAs in the past has usually been opportunistic. Small local sites are often randomly chosen by local conservation or tourism interests and designated unilaterally for protection. Many of them fail to have proper management or enforcement plans and certainly do not take into account of the wider benefits or connections.

Land conservation has also recently woken up to the importance of considering protection on a landscape scale and understanding the daily, seasonal and life-history migrations that species make across different habitats.

Similarly, creatures in the sea have vast webs of linkages, so it is important to plan marine conservation measures on a scale that will allow species to feed, breed and migrate through the connection of sea water and movement provided by currents.

We need to think on a large scale to ensure that the system of MPAs can work on a regional scale. It is impossible to take account of all the possible linkages and movements, but a well connected network will help to ensure that benefits are shared and multiplied.