Worldwide, marine protected areas (MPAs) are often declared by governments to fulfill national or international commitments. However, after being legally declared, MPAs remain in a status referred to as “paper parks”, without any management authority or without any conservation measures in place.  With this publication, WWF Mediterranean intends to mainstream best practices and lesson learned on how stakeholder dialogue, community empowerment, and enhance capacity are key to achieve effective conservation and to begin to apply MPAs as a tool to promote green economies at the local scale.