Solving the mystery of marine protected area (MPA) performance: linking governance,
conservation, ecosystem services, and human well being.
A Pursuit part of the Theme Informing sustainability and adaptation decisions through assessment and
modeling of ecosystem services, at the Social-Environmental Synthesis Center (www.sesync.org)
Annapolis MD
PIs: Helen Fox (helen.fox@wwfus.org), Director of Marine Science, Conservation Science Program,
WWF-US, Robert Pomeroy, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics/Connecticut Sea Grant
Program, University of Connecticut Avery Point Campus, robert.pomeroy@uconn.edu
Summary of Working Group 1 (Feb 26-28, 2013)
As awareness of the importance of marine ecosystem services grows, so too does the recognition
that better governance of social-ecological systems (SES) is critical to sustainability. The first
step when our interdisciplinary team (see participant list & http://www.sesync.org/blog/tue2013-03-12-0909/solving-the-mystery-of-marine-protected-area-performance ) met with the goal
of unpacking the links between marine protected area (MPA) governance and ecosystem
structure, function, and services was to determine the focusing questions for our pursuit. These
are, “How do marine governance regimes impact social-ecological systems?” and “What
variables predict social and ecological impact?” We developed a cross-disciplinary theoretical
framework and a common analytic platform that draws upon the seminal work of Elinor Ostrom.
We also articulated several work streams to document the social and ecological impacts of MPAs
at local, regional, and global scales by synthesizing existing interdisciplinary monitoring data
from hundreds of MPAs. Through this work, we will generate scientific insights that we will
publish as high profile research papers as outputs as well as develop policy pieces to inform
marine resource deliberations.
Numerous datasets have been collected by myriad MPA managers and scientists, but their
collective power and emergent insights for both science and policy have not yet been
tapped. Moreover, we will address a critical but under-recognized obstacle to adaptive
management: the absence of a platform to turn raw MPA monitoring data into actionable
information. We envision developing and widely distributing an open-source MPA monitoring
database to MPA managers, who often struggle to effectively store, manage, process, and
analyze monitoring data – especially in developing countries. Widespread adoption of this
database would establish a new standard for increasingly rigorous monitoring of MPAs,
empowering MPA managers and fostering adaptive management. Through the synthesis of
existing information that links MPA governance, ecosystem services, and human well-being,
novel insights will emerge that advance fundamental scientific knowledge and inform local-toglobal policy and practice.
World Wildlife Fund
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Outputs
We formed several small groups to initially discuss, and then develop work plans for outputs
ranging from a broad conceptual manuscript to introduce our framework, to identifying “lowhanging fruit” for discrete proof-of-concept analyses. Brief summaries (with main contacts) for
these projects are below.
1. A Framework for Inquiry and Action (Mike Mascia, Bob Pomeroy)
Scientists have not yet developed a convincing explanation for the variations in social and
biological performance witnessed among MPAs. As a result, decision makers set marine
resource policy in ignorance, not knowing whether their choices will benefit people, the
environment, or both. We will build upon prior work to propose an analytic framework for
explaining variation in the biological and social impacts of MPAs. This framework provides the
analytic basis for decision-makers to design more effective MPAs and for scientists to conduct
research that explains variation in MPA performance, laying the foundation for a generation of
MPAs that alleviate poverty while conserving biodiversity. Our intent is to submit a manuscript
for peer-reviewed publication by August, 2013, as the first output of the SESYNC MPA working
group. We expect that this framework will inform SESYNC analyses and perhaps MPA policy
debates.
2. Developing the database (Carly Strasser, Emily Darling)
The role of database management will be to collect and clean the variables of interest into a
working format for analysis. After the list of social, economic and ecological variables has been
compiled, we will identify datasets that can provide these data, compile metadata for each dataset
and plan how to link and hook the datasets together using identity ‘keys’. Datasets will then be
downloaded as Excel files, standardized into a working format, and identity keys will be added
to each dataset. The datasets will then be added into an Access relational database that can be
queried and used for analysis. In the big picture as a long-term goal, we can discuss the creation
of a legacy database from this project that can be online and open access and facilitate the
addition of new datasets for other users. We envision that much this work will be undertaken
with the assistance of a distributed graduate seminar, an intern, or graduate students and postdocs
associated with working group members.
3. Links between management input and biological outcomes Consolidate datasets and
correlation analysis between Living Planet Index outcome datasets and (Olaf Jensen,
Hannah Thomas, Stephen Woodley)
We have a have a common interest in understanding the effectiveness of marine protected areas
in conserving biodiversity and providing benefits to communities with UNEP-WCMC and
IUCN’s WCPA-SSC Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas. The science
underpinning the “reserve effect” of MPAs is well developed, but there has been no analysis of
how management input to MPAs affects, or does not affect, biological outcomes in terms of
species trends within similar reserves. Under the Joint Task Force, work has been done to
address this question in the terrestrial realm but so far no attempt has been made to specifically
link assessments of the outcomes of MPAs (e.g. marine species response data) to their scores on
disparate management assessment information for MPAs (e.g. METT/PAME scorecards). This
project will expand techniques and expertise developed with the terrestrial assessment to
critically evaluate, adapt and apply these methods to the marine environment, linking freshly
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collated and up-to-date species and management information. This is an important element of the
‘effectiveness debate’ and is an urgent priority to address in the lead up to the 5th World Parks
Congress that will be held in Australia in November 2014.
4. Mining US data: SOCMON, NOAA, & US Coral Reef Task Force (Susie Holst,
Xavier Basurto)
There are over 8000 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) globally and for many of these sites data
has been collected for various purposes across several disciplines. Thus far these data collection
efforts have primarily been discrete, so to a large extent sharing data across disciplines has not
occurred and few cross-discipline analyses have been performed. We will explore what types of
biological/ecological, socio-economic, management capacity, and governance related-data are
easily available for MPAs and work collaboratively with the entities holding these data sets to
begin investigating how these factors inter-relate.
Through investments made by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, data exists for many
of these disciplines in US Domestic coral reef areas and neighboring international sites. We will
start the analyses with those MPAs where two or more of the following datasets exist: biological,
socio-economic, and management capacity. Biological monitoring has been an ongoing priority
for NOAA and spatial coverage of this type of data is greatest. The Global Socioeconomic
Monitoring Initiative for Coastal Management (SocMon) works through regional and local
partners to facilitate community-based socioeconomic monitoring and has received substantial
support from NOAA. Household and community level data are collected to inform dependence
on coral reef resources, perceptions of resource conditions, threats to marine and coastal
resources, and support for marine management strategies such as marine protected areas.
Additionally, in a recent push to better understand the institutional and management capacity
needs of MPAs, NOAA designed and implemented a simple tool via informational interviews
with MPA site managers to understand where management gaps exist across 14 assessment areas
believed to be crucial for a successful MPA management program. This effort has taken place at
20 MPAs domestically and over 30 sites in the Wider Caribbean.
Overall, the purpose of this effort is to better understand if it is feasible to retrieve this data and
use it to link governance and ecological performance. In addition, we will develop a variabledefinitions' dictionary to accompany the data collection instrument. This dictionary would be
closely linked with the framework, which will provide guidance on how different variables
would be related and organized.
5. How is Your MPA Doing? (Bob Pomeroy, John Parks)
For example, the field monitoring tool “How is your MPA doing?” (HIYMPAD), is a site-level
management effectiveness assessment guidebook with a comprehensive, data-driven
methodology with region-specific adaptations (Pomeroy et al. 2004; 2005). As intended, these
assessments have been useful to sites for clarifying, evaluating, and revising their management
objectives (Pomeroy et al. 2004); however, the comparative power potentially available in such a
global dataset has not yet been explored, although a pilot study revealed existing challenges to
meta-analysis that this Pursuit would address. Governance, biophysical, and socioeconomic data
from various MPAs have already been, and continue to be collected using HIYMPAD (even
though the original hosting site, http://effectiveMPA.noaa.gov, has been discontinued). The
empirical insights that could be derived from a synthesis of these data, much of it longitudinal, is
well recognized by scholars and practitioners alike.
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6. Case studies: Caribbean (Louise Glew, Gabby Ahmadia) and Hawaii Micro-Pilot
(Ruth Gates, John Parks)
As part of this inter-disciplinary research initiative to compile, integrate, and analyze
governance, biophysical, and social data from MPAs across the globe, we are piloting methods
and approaches for this work in two areas where we anticipate easier access to interdisciplinary
data: the Greater Caribbean and Hawaii. We will crosswalk among governance, management
assessment, social, ecological, and biophysical data to identify sites with data in common, collate
and synthesize relevant social, ecological, and biophysical secondary data, and conduct basic
statistical analyses to document and explore the relationship between marine resource
governance, management assessments (effectiveness) and ecological outcomes. We anticipate
scientific insights emerging that shed light on the role marine ecosystem services, including
fisheries, coastal protection, and marine tourism play in the economies, livelihoods, and food
security for the Greater Caribbean and Hawaii. We also anticipate insights from these case
studies to inform the larger effort.
Anticipated Results
We anticipate this working group of global marine conservation experts will produce new
insights for management and policy and cutting edge, high profile research papers as outputs.
This research initiative will use data mining and advanced statistical techniques to analyze
historic MPA monitoring datasets to document the social and ecological impacts of MPAs;
explore tradeoffs, synergies, and equity among impacts; and document the relationship between
MPA governance and impacts. Though previously monitoring efforts were rarely designed for
cross-disciplinary or cross-site integration, we expect that our data mining and analyses will
inform on-the-ground monitoring efforts and yield new policy-relevant insights. Modest
investments in data mining and analyses would leverage tens of millions of dollars previously
invested in MPA monitoring, refine and enhance ongoing on-the-water monitoring efforts, and
mobilize the global marine conservation community around a shared understanding of MPA
governance and performance.
Next steps and ways to be involved
Our next working group is scheduled for November 201, with the International Congress for
Conservation Biology in July 2013 as another opportunity for communication around these
issues. We are maintaining regular communication among small group team members and all
participants through the SESYNC community website and bi-monthly updates of progress as the
six small groups organized at the February meeting implement work plans for outputs. We are
seeking additional resources to support a Post-Doctoral Fellow and provide funds to undertake
work plans and complementary research. We are gathering information about existing databases
and datasets for this Pursuit: Solving the mystery of marine protected area (MPA) performance:
linking governance, conservation, ecosystem services, and human well-being. We anticipate
multiple ways to be involved in these efforts beyond the core working groups. Please contact
Helen.Fox@wwfus.org ; any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
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Participants
Our Working Group participants spanned various professions, institutions, ethnicities, and career
levels, including representatives from academic, governmental, non-governmental, and private
sectors. Their diverse backgrounds include biologists and ecologists, anthropologists, economists
and other social scientists, and database and decision support specialists.
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