Report of the Study Group on Designing Marine Protected Area Networks in a Changing Climate (SGMPAN)

The Study Group on Designing Marine Protected Area Networks in a Changing Cli-mate (SGMPAN), chaired by Robert J. Brock, USA, Ellen Kenchington, Canada, and Amparo Martínez-Arroyo, Mexico, met at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA from 15–19 November 2010. The overall aim of this Study Group Report was to develop general guidelines for MPA network design processes that adapt to and mitigate anticipated effects of cli-mate change on marine ecosystems. The Study Group was established jointly be-tween ICES and the North American Marine Protected Areas Network (NAMPAN – a sub-committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)). Partici-pants were from Mexico, the United States and Canada. The area of interest extended from the Western Tropical Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mex-ico, northward to (and including) the Labrador Sea.