IMMA (Important Marine Mammal Area)

An Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) is a discrete portion of habitat important to marine mammals, delineated as a candidate for area-based conservation. IMMAs are identified by the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force, a joint body created in 2013 under the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and Species Survival Commission. Eight selection criteria covering vulnerability, distribution, abundance, and key life-cycle activities apply; meeting one suffices. IMMAs are an advisory spatial-planning layer, not a legal designation: they flag priority areas to inform marine protected area placement, environmental impact assessment, and shipping and noise management.