Connectivity is considered to be essential in enhancing biodiversity conservation efforts and for benefiting adjacent areas. In the marine environment, connectivity among populations arises from dispersal during the larval stage for most sedentary species and particularly among sessile benthic invertebrates. Offspring released into the water column are transported and dispersed almost passively by water flow due to limited larval motility as compared to the horizontal flow speed. As a consequence, the spatio-temporal variability of hydrodynamics primarily shapes larval transport, which is the integration of larval dispersal over the pelagic larval duration of a species. Ocean modelling works well for hindcasting realistic coastal circulation, and can provide a comprehensive description of flow variability at high spatial and temporal resolutions, which improves the description of larval transport. In this talk, I will examine how larval transport estimates derived from bio-physical modelling can be useful to marine biodiversity conservation through the design of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), by taking examples from the Mediterranean Sea. Species persistence in both isolated MPAs and in a network of MPAs will be discussed.