scholarly journals An evolving protocol to identify key stakeholder-influenced indicators of coastal change: the case of Marine Protected Areas

2008 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prassede Vella ◽  
Robert E. Bowen ◽  
Anamarija Frankic

Abstract Vella, P., Bowen, R. E., and Frankic, A. 2009. An evolving protocol to identify key stakeholder-influenced indicators of coastal change: the case of Marine Protected Areas. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 203–213. In recent years, there has been a growing realization of the need to protect and conserve degrading environments. This can only be achieved through integrated management of environmental protection and the rational use of living and non-living resources. However, no management plan that aims at sustainable development can be successful unless the human factor is included. The concept of ecosystem-based management considers socio-economic issues in evaluating management effectiveness. In this paper, we present a method for selecting and prioritizing socio-economic indicators, using a bottom-up approach involving stakeholder input. This technique is developed further to measure the effectiveness of integrated coastal management, using a Marine Protected Area (MPA) as an example. Stakeholder input is essential at an early stage to ensure MPA management success, providing the opportunity to include public participation and ensure community support. This paper presents a transparent and adaptable indicator ranking protocol and evaluative rules, ensuring that an ecosystem-based approach can be more effectively implemented.

2008 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Smith ◽  
Paul D. Eastwood ◽  
Yoshitaka Ota ◽  
Stuart I. Rogers

Abstract Smith, R. J., Eastwood, P. D., Ota, Y., and Rogers, S. I. 2009. Developing best practice for using Marxan to locate Marine Protected Areas in European waters. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 188–194. Several recent studies have investigated the use of the conservation planning software Marxan to design Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks in UK waters. The systematic conservation planning approach embodied by Marxan has a number of advantages, but these studies have highlighted the need for guidance and advice on best practice. Here, we discuss two broad topics that we feel should inform future developments in the UK and elsewhere in the European Union. First, several technical issues need to be addressed to ensure the scientific defensibility of any conservation planning project. These include identifying which conservation features should be represented in an MPA system, developing a system for setting representation targets, and identifying which data should be included to minimize conflict with human uses of the sea. Second, it is necessary for researchers to engage at an early stage with those responsible for implementation and recognize that reserve selection should be part of a broader conservation planning process centred on a stakeholder-developed implementation strategy. A more-inclusive approach will make use of technical outputs, such as those generated by Marxan, as part of the process of policy development.


2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Mark Westera

Guidelines to marine protected areas is a collation of efforts from the IUCN, NOAA and Cardiff University, among others. It is aimed at managers and would be managers of marine parks, but will also be of use to anyone involved in the Marine Protected Area (MPA) process from conceptual planning to establishment, monitoring and management. Its broad application takes into account the hurdles that a manager is likely to encounter. There are nine sections, an introduction, an evaluation of the legal framework required to successfully establish MPAs, a discussion on dealing with all the relevant parties, involving communities and other stakeholders, site selection, planning and managing MPAs, zoning, evaluating economic aspect and financial sustainability, and finally a section on research, monitoring and review. Boxes are used throughout the text within each chapter to summarize important points and make for quick reference to the topic of that chapter.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-855
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Aznar

Abstract Spain has just declared a new marine protected area in the Mediterranean. This follows a protective trend taken by Spanish authorities during the last decades and has permitted Spain to honour its international compromises under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It contributes to a framework of protected areas established under conventional regimes such as OSPAR, RAMSAR or EU Natura 2000. The new area protects a ‘cetacean corridor’ and will be inscribed in the list of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance under the Barcelona Convention regional framework.


2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Luna ◽  
Carlos Valle Pérez ◽  
Jose Luis Sánchez-Lizaso

Abstract Luna, B., Valle Pérez, C., and Sánchez-Lizaso, J. L. 2009. Benthic impacts of recreational divers in a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 517–523. The features of many Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have increased scuba diving tourism in these areas. Impacts caused by recreational scuba activity vary widely among different divers with differing underwater behaviour. We studied diver underwater behaviour, the effects on the natural environment, and the characteristics that may influence diver behaviour. In all, 181 recreational divers were followed, and contacts and the effects produced were recorded. Information on diver profile and dive features was recorded. Field sampling revealed that 175 of the divers observed (96.7%) made at least one contact with the seabed, with a mean contact of 41.20 ± 3.55 (mean ± s.e.) per diver per 10 min. Flapping was the most frequent type of contact, and the main damage by this action was to raise sediment. Contact with the seabed was greater for males than for females, inexperienced divers than for experienced divers, camera or lantern (dive light) users than for non-users, and divers unaccompanied by a dive leader or who had not been briefed about avoiding seabed contact before undertaking a dive than for accompanied or briefed divers. A greater understanding of the causes of harmful behaviour may be useful for stricter management, reducing diving damage and assuring the sustainability of this activity in MPAs.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter JS Jones ◽  
Elizabeth M De Santo ◽  
Wanfei Qiu

Debates surrounding governance strategies for marine protected areas (MPAs) have to date largely focused on top-down, bottom-up or market-based approaches. Whilst co-management approaches for governing MPAs are widely accepted as a way forward for combining these three strategies, many interpretations of this concept exist and it is applied in many different ways in MPAs in different contexts. This study aimed to explore governance through a case-study approach based on a specifically developed empirical framework – the marine protected area governance (MPAG) analysis framework – to increase understanding of how to combine the three governance approaches. A dialogue with MPA practitioners in 20 case studies helped shape the MPAG analysis framework as it developed, and an international workshop was held on ‘Governing MPAs’, bringing the practitioners together to compare results and further develop the framework. This paper provides an overview of the topic and research methodology and briefly introduces the case studies further explored in this special issue


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