Description:
The Barents Sea ecoregion - the part of the World Ocean north of the Nordic countries and Northwest Russia, has a unique environment with major sea bird colonies, rich benthic and plankton fauna and many major sea mammal species. Within this ecoregion, this graphic illustrates the existing coverage of protected areas. One of the main threats to the region is the development associated with the expansion of fossil fuel extraction activities. Russia and Norway are expanding new fields, and traffic is expected to increase. As illustrated, there are few marine protected areas, and few that are coastal.