The contribution of very large marine protected areas to marine conservation: giant leaps or smoke and mirrors?

In recent years, marine protected areas have been "super-sized". At first glance, this seems a gift to marine conservation. Yet, the new wave of very large marine protected areas ("VLMPAs") have faced criticism from the scientific community. In this article we examine the merits and the criticisms of VLMPAS, and consider whether they provide a much-needed boost to marine conservation, or are simply too good to be true.