Marine Protected Area (MPA) is defined as any area of inter-tidal or sub-tidal terrain, together with its overlying waters and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features, which has been reserved by legislation to protect part or all of the enclosed environment (IUCN 1988). This review will focus on sub-tidal areas and inter-tidal areas essential for marine species, such as coral reefs and turtle nesting beaches.

The Review follows the biogeographic division system adopted by the IUCN/CNPPA MPA Programme, which has classified the globe into 18 regions, each of which is further subdivided biogeographically (Kelleher et al. 1995). The IUCN East Asian Seas Region encompasses all of the nine Pacific Ocean countries/territories except Papua New Guinea, which falls under the IUCN South Pacific Ocean Region. The East Asian Seas Region is divided into 8 first-order and 22 second-order subdivisions. For this overview, the region of the Western Coast of Myanmar is included even though it is considered under the Central Indian Ocean region (see Map 7).

In order to gather local knowledge and perception on the conservation values of and human-induced threats to the MPAs (declared and undeclared) of the region, a questionnaire has been designed for national experts to rank the different values of and threats to individual MPAs in their own countries. These data are presented in the form of tables listing the main habitats, species of significance and threats of high/medium/ low intensities to each MPA. Data on threats are added and averaged over the number of sites analysed, thus giving the overall relative frequency of different types of threats in that particular country. To make comparisons more meaningful, only coral reef sites with good knowledge are analysed and the results presented in the form of histograms (e.g. Figure i.1). The total impact (I) of a particular threat (T) of different intensities is obtained
by the following:

Impact = 3xH + 2xM + L
Where:
H = averaged frequency of high intensity T
M = averaged frequency of medium intensity T
L = averaged frequency of low intensity T

As different types of threats cause different types and levels of impacts under different environmental conditions, the total impact derived from this formula is a hypothetical figure designed to emphasize the differences in the intensities of threats and to facilitate comparisons between threats. Instead of seeking a definitive measurement, the analysis seeks to understand and display the perceptions of the informants. These include the problems of their marine areas, which reflect not only the actual situation of the sites, but also, to some extent, the persons’ cultural, academic and political background. To reduce the effects of the latter, an equal number of representatives both from the government and NGO/scientific communities have been asked to complete the questionnaire wherever possible.

Histograms derived from Reefs at Risks exercises undertaken for the Southeast Asian region provide a context of how these threats on MPAs relate to the overall national risk level perceived and modelled through the World Resources Institute (WRI) and its collaborators (Burke et al. 2001).

For comparisons among countries, the 13 types of threats are grouped into major
categories related to the following and presented in pie charts:

a) Fisheries (overexploitation and destructive methods; dynamite & poison fishing, coral mining)
b) Ornamental trade (including aquarium fish and coral and shell souvenirs)
c) Hunting of endangered species (mainly turtles, also dugongs, whales and sharks)
d) Tourism (damage of habitats by tourists, anchors, pollution, and constructions)
e) Environmental degradation (siltation, pollution, coastal development, mining, dredging, etc.)