Map

Priority Conservation Areas: Baja to Bering, 2005

Map type: Marine Ecosystems

This map shows the 28 marine priority conservation areas in the Baja to Bering region.

The three North American countries have identified the Baja to Bering region – the region that extends from the Gulf of California north to the Bering Strait – as a high continental priority for biodiversity conservation.

Priority conservation areas, critically important areas of biodiversity and continental uniqueness under threat from human activities, are the region’s ecological jewels.

Because they are essential to the healthy functioning of the entire Baja to Bering region, they are focal areas for conservation efforts, and are not intended as large marine protected areas. These priority areas include highly productive fishing groups, coral gardens, globally unique reefs, marine mammal hotspots, coastal lagoons, and areas of incomparable biodiversity.