Zoning of marine protected areas: Conflicts and cooperation options in the Galapagos and San Andres archipelagos

Results are reported of an analysis of the conflicts that the zoning of marine protected areas might generate in the Galapagos and San Andres archipelagos given the involved stakeholders’ competing interests. This will assist stakeholders, including the final decision makers, to develop cooperation strategies for managing conflicts. Specifically, the analysis focused on the stakeholders’ conflicting priorities for a number of criteria deemed relevant to the evaluation of alternative geographical zoning configurations. Sets of statistically similar priorities are suggested as bargaining positions to those stakeholders who find it advantageous to seek cooperation with others sharing the same values instead of acting alone when debating MPA zoning alternatives. Another result that will contribute to cooperation strategies is the assessment of the solidarity of cohort groups of stakeholders as reflected by the extent of similarity among their priorities.     

A hierarchical framework to aid biodiversity assessment for coastal zone management and marine protected area selection

The need to rapidly and accurately identify areas for protection and conservation in the marine environment has been highlighted as of critical importance. Managers require timely and cost-effective techniques to obtain biodiversity information at appropriate scales and resolutions aligned with management objectives and stakeholders requirements. In this paper, a two-stage, multi-level data collection framework is presented that will aid managers to focus on what marine biodiversity collection techniques will meet their individual jurisdictional needs.The framework begins with an integrated planning process (objective setting, stakeholder identification, and sensitivity and gap analyses), that leads to a hierarchical approach for selecting biodiversity assessment techniques that will gather required marine biodiversity data. Complexity of scale and resolution increases as one progress's through the hierarchical levels of Stage II. The utility of using a hierarchical framework is that it surmounts the problem that no single technique can quantify all biological attributes necessary for management outcomes. Also, the user enters the framework at a hierarchical level that meets their requirements thus removing the collection of redundant data. Ultimately, the rapid assessment framework is based on the efficient and sufficient assessment of marine biodiversity.     

Accommodating ecotourism in multiple use planning of coastal and marine protected areas

Coastal and marine areas the world over provide food, transportation, recreation, and energy resources to increasing numbers of people each year. As demands for these resources rise, the potential for user conflicts is radically heightened. This situation can be avoided or counteracted by instigating proactive multiple use planning. Multiple use zoning plans can only exist in a concrete management framework: marine and coastal protected areas provide just such a foundation. Nature-based or ecotourism can be encouraged in coastal protected areas aimed at achieving sustainability. Well-planned tourism provides economic and political incentives for management and for conservation, and may bring additional benefits to local communities and regional economies. Examples where nature-based tourism has been or is becoming successfully integrated into multiple use planning can be found in Quintana Roo, Mexico; the Lesser Antilles; and Australia, among other areas.     

A clash of values and approaches: A case study of marine protected area planning in Mozambique

Many developing countries are expanding their network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to meet ambitious marine conservation targets set globally and to develop tourism nationally. This study explores the human dimensions of MPA planning in Mozambique by engaging local resource users in a series of structured discussions about marine resource use, pressures on marine resources, ways to address such pressures, and the potential positive and negative impacts of MPAs on the management of marine resources and livelihoods, from a community perspective. Findings show that the groups and communities interviewed are at best ambivalent towards MPAs while at the same time supporting increased government regulation, including conventional fisheries management measures. The study suggests that without significant community involvement in the choice of marine conservation tools, the drive to establish MPAs to achieve biodiversity conservation and tourism development goals may be counterproductive, at least in terms of poverty alleviation and sustainable resource use. It argues that a wider range of marine conservation approaches and tools needs to be considered in addition to MPAs, taking into consideration local views and institutional capacities.     

A comparison of management planning and implementation in three Indonesian marine protected areas

A comparison of three marine protected areas in Indonesia illustrates many of the problems in management planning and implementation. Major factors influencing management are proximity to urban areas, the protected area's economic potential, current uses and the resolution of jurisdictional disputes. Isolation does not prevent resource depletion. Improving the economic conditions of local residents and gaining their commitment to environmentally sustainable commercial and subsistence resource uses within and near protected areas are vital to implementing area management.     

Coastal and marine resource management in the Galapagos Islands and the Archipelago of San Andres: Issues,problems and opportunities

Tourism and fisheries comprise the economic backbone of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and the Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia. The health of fishery resources, the environment and their dependant industries is discussed against a background of policy development and user conflicts, supported by a range of technical studies undertaken between 1998 and 2002, setting the scene for an examination of a more participatory and effective role for local stakeholders in the management of their island resources. Local stakeholders have been involved in guiding plans on future management of both islands’ resources including Biosphere Reserve designation of the San Andres Archipelago and the development of a Special Law for Galapagos. Their participation is deemed essential to progress in marine resource management and zoning initiatives within the islands.     

A general framework for indicator design and use with application to the assessment of coastal water quality and marine protected area management

Environmental management decisions based upon indicators are the end point of a process involving stakeholders and scientists. These steps should be explicit and follow a chronology. This paper presents a general framework for the design and use of management-oriented indicators, integrating management questions and performance criteria. We first examined the desirable characteristics of indicators aimed at providing decision-support for marine environmental management. Ideally, one should select the indicator that guarantees a safe and unambiguous decision leading to the appropriate measures in terms of regulation, remediation or control. In the present study, indicators are assessed according to two criteria: relevance and effectiveness. Relevance encompasses sensitivity and the existence of quantitative reference values, thereby allowing the selection of potential indicators. Effectiveness is the ability of the indicator to reach its predefined targets based on optimal (or at least improved) data collection protocols. The framework is illustrated by applying it to the European Water Framework Directive and to the Marine Protected Area management contexts.     

Linking marine protected areas to integrated coastal and ocean management: A review of theory and practice

If managed in isolation, coastal and marine protected areas (MPAs) are vulnerable to natural resource development and exploitation occurring outside these areas—in particular, overfishing, alteration and destruction of habitats, and water pollution. Thus, protection of coastal and marine areas—of species, habitats, landscapes, and seascapes—should be integrated into spatial development strategies for larger areas, under the umbrella of integrated coastal and ocean management (ICM). This is typically easier said than done, since the actors involved in MPA networks and in ICM programs are often different, reflecting different cultures, networks of relationships, ministries, and goals and motivations.This article reviews the ecological, social and economic linkages between MPAs and the governance of broader ocean and coastal areas; sets forth nine guiding principles for managing MPAs within an ICM context; reviews work conducted under the Convention on Biological Diversity to operationalize the linkages between ICM and MPAs; and develops strategic guidance for addressing these linkages. The article ends with a call to bring together the diverse communities involved in marine protected areas, coastal and ocean management, and watershed management to collaborate in national-level ocean and coastal planning, including in the designation of networks of marine protected areas.     

Integrating science and management on coastal marine protected areas in the Southern Gulf of Mexico

The coastal zone of the State of Campeche have some of the Gulf of Mexico’s richest ecosystems characterized by extensive seagrasses, mangrove forests, low-land tidal wetlands, a broad deltaic environment, including the Usumacinta/Laguna de Terminos estuarine ecosystem, and extensive low salinities and brackish wetlands in the Petenes region. Commercial and artisanal fishing, maritime transport, agriculture and cattle grazing in low-land areas, urban expansion, building of highways, and tourism, are important economics activities that are increasing in the State of Campeche. However, the growth needs to occur in a sustainable manner with adequate protection of the coastal ecosystems. The theoretical approach and conceptual basis of the integrated coastal management plan are based on 20 years of scientific research in the region; and from 1990 to the present, a number of projects have been completed which serve as case studies of coastal management coupling science, technology, public participation, and policymaking in the southern Gulf of Mexico. After developing seven “study case” integrating science into policymaking, a management approach was developed considering four main actions: promotion of institutional arrangements, so that the multi-sectorial planning approach be considered in coastal resources development; strengthening of public awareness related to coastal resources management policies and capabilities; gathering, analysis and dissemination of information related to coastal resources development; and provision of technical solutions to coastal resources uses in conflict. Finally this is a case study where science played a significant role in the politics of the policy process, both in protecting key estuarine ecosystem and the planning process defining the ICZM plans.     

Science-based and stakeholder-driven marine protected area network planning: A successful case study from north central California

The planning process for California's Marine Life Protection Act in north central California represents a case study in the design of a regional component of a statewide network of marine protected areas (MPAs) for improved ecosystem protection. We describe enabling factors, such as a legislative mandate, political will, and adequate capacity and funding that fostered a successful planning process. We identify strategic principles that guided the design of a transparent public planning process that delivered regional MPA network proposals, which both met science guidelines and achieved a high level of support among stakeholders. We also describe key decision support elements (spatial data, planning tools, and scientific evaluation) that were essential for designing, evaluating, and refining alternative MPA network proposals and for informing decision-makers.     

Nutritional condition of two coastal rocky fishes and the potential role of a marine protected area

Knowledge of the nutritional conditions of coastal commercial fish populations is key to understanding stock health status, and is essential when making reasonable exploitation and management plans. Here, we present the first results on the condition and feeding preferences of two coastal fish species, Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1758). Using stable isotope and biochemical analyses, we tested the potential effects of a marine protected area (MPA) and the occurrence of a dramatic coastal storm on the condition and quality of nutrition. The results suggest that both condition (lipids) and nutrition quality (fatty acids, FAs) in P. erythrinus and D. sargus depend upon on food availability in the area in which they were captured. Pagellus erythrinus individuals inside the MPA stored higher quantities of lipids [46.73 ± 19.00 μg lipid·mg organic matter (OM)^?1] than those outside the MPA (15.63 ± 5.30 μg lipid·mg OM^?1) only before the storm. Diplodus sargus showed different FA signatures inside and outside the MPA before and after the storm. These results suggest that D. sargus increased their quality of nutrition inside (16.62 ± 3.17 μg FA·mg OM^?1) versus outside (7.88 ± 2.36 μg FA·mg OM^?1) the MPA, owing to increased food diversity and availability. Conversely, P. erythrinus did not show differences in nutritional quality inside (18.12 ± 1.13 μg FA·mg OM^?1) or outside (18.81 ± 1.42 μg FA·mg OM^?1) the MPA, possibly because of the increase in ingestion not affecting the studied parameters. In P. erythrinus, the FA concentration decreased after the storm, but in D. sargus, a change in lipid composition was observed. These results suggest that P. erythrinus appears to be more impacted by food quality (different saturated and unsaturated FAs) than D. sargus, owing to a more restrictive diet. We hypothesize that the observed differences between inside and outside the MPA are not only related to the degree of protection, but also to the feeding preferences and behaviour of both fishes.     

Fortress conservation at sea: A commentary on the Chagos marine protected area

The world's largest no-take Marine Protected Area in Chagos is examined in light of the Convention on Biological Diversity's provisions on Access and Benefit Sharing, as well as terrestrial experiences with fortress conservation. It is acknowledged that this closure presents a unique opportunity to preserve an ecologically 'pristine' area. However, the means by which the political process unfolded are brought into question. In particular, the fact that the UK proceeded with designating the area whilst the European Court of Human Rights was deliberating the right of native Chagossians to return to the island is questioned. In addition it is argued that the scale of the area poses significant management and enforcement challenges, which are not necessarily taken into consideration in the rush for large, no-take Marine Protected Areas.     

Trading on conservation: A marine protected area as an ecological fix

Many developing countries have encouraged the expansion of mechanised fishing in order to engage in the lucrative export of seafood. This has caused a rise in the incidental mortality of marine wildlife. In recent years, widespread concern over wildlife deaths has been used by developed consumer countries to insist on mitigation measures or to impose economic sanctions. Hence, many supplier countries have been forced to implement wildlife conservation measures to safeguard their export-driven marine fisheries. In this paper, we present an account of how the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, an iconic Marine Protected Area in eastern India, was created in such a context. We suggest that it serves as an ecological fix, i.e. a token spatial solution that removes environmental barriers to the accumulation of capital, and we describe how a combination of neoliberal actors has maintained it for more than two decades so as to greenwash subsequent industrialisation along the coast. Finally, we describe its social and ecological repercussions to highlight the contrast between ground realities and the win–win discourse that accompanies such efforts to integrate conservation with capitalistic production.     

A conceptual framework for the integral management of marine protected areas

A general conceptual framework for the management of marine protected areas (MPAs) was developed. The driver-pressure-state-impacts-response (DPSIR) framework was used to determine the elements affecting MPAs. The developed evaluation framework helped to select an appropriate suite of indicators to support an ecosystem approach, an assessment of the MPAs functioning and policy decisions. Gaps derived from the management and policy responses in the MPAs were also outlined. It was concluded that the DPSIR framework can help to simplify the complexity of MPA management. This document is a tool for policy makers, scientists and general public on the relevance of indicators to monitor changes and MPAs management.     

A comparison of zoning analyses to inform the planning of a marine protected area network in Raja Ampat,Indonesia

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are often managed using several management zones, each of which allows different human-uses. Decision support tools can be applied to provide advice on potential zoning configurations. However, few studies used decision support tools to systematically determine good locations for different types of zones that accommodate multiple and often conflicting objectives. Previous studies have mostly used scores to integrate multiple objectives and identify different zoning configurations or explored priority areas for each zone separately. Neither of these approaches ensure that solutions meet both biodiversity and human-use objectives. Nor do they deal with the fact that in zoning plans the whole is not the same as the sum of the parts, the importance of a site depends on how the rest of the sites are managed. The aim of this study was to identify different zoning configurations for the Raja Ampat MPA network in Eastern Indonesia that address biodiversity, sustainable fisheries and community resource access objectives. Identifying zoning configurations is particularly difficult here given the importance of protecting high biodiversity reefs and other conservation values, and the high reliance of local communities on their marine resources. Potential areas for no-take zones were identified that have a small and equitable impact across the fishing grounds of different fishing communities whilst ensuring each community has access to a ‘sustainable fishing zone’. Access to fishing grounds for each community is complicated due to marine tenure restricting where individuals can fish and reliance on traditional types of fishing vessels that restrict long distance travel. This approach for zoning was compared to three others. The first focused on identifying areas only for the no-take zone, a traditional systematic planning approach, and the second on both zones without explicitly accounting for the issue of resource access for each community. The solutions unfairly impacted particular communities. Finally, it is demonstrated how a pre-existing zoning proposal, driven by negotiation can be integrated into systematic planning.     

Mind the gap: Addressing the shortcomings of marine protected areas through large scale marine spatial planning

A blind faith in the ability of MPAs to counteract loss of biodiversity is fraught with risk, especially when MPAs are poorly planned and when the consequences of establishing MPAs are not adequately thought out. MPA shortcomings are categorized as one of five main types: (1) MPAs that by virtue of their small size or poor design are ecologically insufficient; (2) inappropriately planned or managed MPAs; (3) MPAs that fail due to the degradation of the unprotected surrounding ecosystems; (4) MPAs that do more harm than good due to displacement and unintended consequences of management; and (5) MPAs that create a dangerous illusion of protection when in fact no protection is occurring. A strategic alternative, which fully utilizes the strengths of the MPA tool while avoiding the pitfalls, can overcome these shortcomings: integrating marine protected area planning in broader marine spatial planning and ocean zoning efforts.     

Creating compliance: A cross-sectional study of the factors associated with marine protected area outcomes

A model for the economics of marine conservation is developed and tested using data from a global sample of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Results from logistic regressions indicate that significant determinants of positive MPA effects vary among MPA subgroups. These significant regressors include enforcement in later time periods and certain “goodwill building activities” carried out by MPA management, as well as a number of institutional and socioeconomic characteristics of the communities. Policy implications and recommendations for additional research are discussed.     

APEC海洋保护区管理能力建设探讨——基于2011年APEC海洋保护区培训班成果分析

为推动APEC经济体的海洋保护区管理能力建设、分享APEC经济体在海洋保护区建设与管理方面的成功经验,APEC海洋可持续发展中心于2011年在中国厦门举办了"APEC海洋保护区管理能力建设培训班".本文简要介绍了培训班概况,并基于培训研讨内容,总结归纳了目前业界对亚太区域海洋保护区管理能力建设共同关心的问题,包括海洋保护区网络建设、管理制度建设、社区共管机制建设、先进技术的应用、可持续财政机制建立等.文中指出开展APEC海洋保护区网络建设的重要性,并提出了今后需要加强海洋保护区管理计划的实施与管理成效评估、管理人员与技术人员的培训和经验分享、加强国际交流合作等方面的建议,以不断提高海洋保护区管理成效.     

Benefits and opportunity costs of Australia's Coral Sea marine protected area: A precautionary tale

The paper analyses the benefits and costs of the Coral Sea Marine Reserve which, together with the contiguous Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, creates the largest marine protected area in the world. The benefits are found to be minimal, in both anthropocentric and ecocentric terms. Nevertheless establishment and management costs could be in the order of $A20 million and $A13 million, respectively. Meanwhile, serious depletion of the vital fish stocks of the largest tuna fishery in the world in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean—in which Australia is a management partner—continues, as does the rapid erosion of the unique and outstanding values of the Great Barrier Reef. It is concluded that current investment in the creation and management of the Coral Sea Reserve—in the face of the demonstrably urgent needs for investment in the management of marine resources in the near region and in Australia – is problematic.