The global push to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 is gaining momentum – but a major new report warns that political ambition is running far ahead of the ‘operational capacity needed’ to deliver it.

Released at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s report, Closing the Implementation Gap: Capacity Development for Effective Marine 30×30, offers the first comprehensive global assessment of the human, institutional, financial and technological systems required to make marine protected areas work in practice.

Its central finding is that while countries are announcing new MPAs at an increasing rate, many still lack the workforce, governance structures, long-term funding, and local coordination to make those protections meaningful.

“It is insufficient for marine 30×30 to just be a designation challenge,” said Dr. Vanessa Constant, Associate Director for the Arsht Resilience Initiative at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. “It has to become an implementation challenge, backed by complementary investment in people, institutions, and long-term stewardship so that protected areas become more than lines on a map.”

The numbers illustrate the scale of what remains to be done. Designated MPAs now cover 9.8% of the global ocean as of April 2026, up from 8.4% in 2024 – progress, but still a long way short of the 30% target agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022. More troubling still, at least half of existing MPAs remain unimplemented or operationally ineffective. A further 20% of ocean area must be brought under protection, and each new designation must also be actively and effectively managed.

The gap between commitment and delivery is widening.

Developed through stakeholder engagement with governments, scientists, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, NGOs and financial actors across Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Western Indian Ocean, the report identifies regional contextualisation and effective coordination as foundational requirements for success.

Marine conservation cannot rely on universal templates – each region demands locally grounded governance, long-term partnerships and cross-sector collaboration.

Beyond these foundations, the report identifies six further areas requiring urgent investment: governance and policy continuity; long-term and locally accessible funding; inclusive stakeholder engagement; data and technology accessibility; socio-ecological integration; and public communication and storytelling.

One of its sharpest warnings concerns the growing disconnect between rapidly advancing marine technologies and the realities facing communities on the ground. Satellite monitoring and AI-driven analytics are expanding fast, but many coastal regions still lack basic technical training, digital literacy or access to actionable data. The tools exist; the capacity to use them often does not.

The report also calls for a shift in how conservation is communicated — framing MPAs not as restrictions, but as a shared economic, cultural and environmental proposition tied directly to livelihoods, food security and long-term prosperity.

“This is ultimately a systems challenge,” said Rocky Sanchez Tirona, Managing Director of Regional Programs at Rare. “Effectively protecting 30% of the ocean will depend not only on political will, but on sustained investment in the people, institutions, relationships, and regional and local leadership needed to make conservation endure.”

The conference in Mombasa — the first Our Ocean Conference to be held on African soil — brings together governments, scientists, civil society and investors to accelerate practical ocean action. Across multiple regions, local organisations, Indigenous leaders and innovative funding partnerships are already demonstrating what effective capacity development looks like. The challenge now is scaling those efforts fast enough to match the pace of global ambition.

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