Connecting marine reserves to large networks will make marine species and ecosystems more resistant to threats such as climate change, overfishing or pollution. Today, a new roadmap for establishing marine protected area networks is being released at the IUCN Marine Protected Area Summit in Washington, DC.
The publication “Establishing Networks of Marine Protected Areas – Making It Happen” is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in collaboration with the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the World Wildlife Fund – Australia, and The Nature Conservancy. 
Inspired by discussions from a several international forums, the publication captures current international best practices in developing MPA networks. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the G8 Group of Nations have called for establishing a global system of MPA networks by the year 2012.
“Establishing Networks of Marine Protected Areas – Making It Happen” is available on the IUCN Web page at  www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/biome/marine/mpanetworks/networks.html.