Marine Protected Areas provide more cultural ecosystem services than other adjacent coastal areas

Marine biodiversity loss is a global threat for the integrity of ecosystem services. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly used for biodiversity conservation to displace anthropogenic threats, but by doing so they can impact coastal community livelihoods. They are often assumed to confer added cultural ecosystem services (CESs) to affected communities, offering new economic opportunities, but we currently lack a global estimate of MPA CES provision. Here, we used a paired design to compare the intensity with which CESs from all MPAs worldwide and adjacent control areas were utilized over the past 10 years by using geo-referenced Flickr photos and their user-generated descriptions. Globally, more photos were posted, by more users, in MPAs. Flickr users mentioned nature and wildlife topics more in MPAs. MPA photos were described more positively and were more popular. We conclude that users preferentially visited MPAs to experience nature and wildlife. Globally, MPAs deliver added CESs.