Marine Management Area Science

Management Effectiveness

During the past 20 years, the establishment of marine management areas (MMAs) has become an increasingly popular strategy to protect the ocean and to sustain its living marine resources, cultural and historical resources, and recreational opportunities. The creation of MMAs has been, in a sense, a giant global experiment. Now that many MMAs have been in place for several years, it is essential to assess their progress toward management objectives and conservation outcomes: Are MMAs working? How do we achieve successful MMAs?

MMAS Research

• Global analysis of MMA effectiveness. We are investigating the effects of MMAs on ecosystems and people around the world, and we are identifying the critical factors that influence those effects. Principal investigators: Craig Dahlgren, Robert Pomeroy, Tammy Campson. View the Work Plan >>

• Predictive decision-support tool. We are developing a model that will enable managers, policy makers, and stakeholders to predict the effectiveness of MMAs based on interactions of ecological, socioeconomic, and governance factors that can be manipulated at will. Principal investigator: Suchi Gopal.
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• Core ecological monitoring. We are using standardized protocols to monitor biodiversity and other ecological factors inside and outside established marine management areas with a focus on identifying effects solely a result of management regime and not natural variation. Principal investigators: Burton Shank (Belize); Rodrigo de Moura (Brazil); Jean-François Bertrand (Fiji); and Hector Guzman and Stuart Banks (Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape).
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• Core socioeconomic and governance monitoring. We are using standardized social science methods to measure changes in socioeconomic and governance conditions associated with MMAs. Comparisons across the four Focus Areas will consider how MMAs produce larger, global effects. Principal investigators: Adele Catzim and Diane Haylock (Belize); Isabela Curado (Brazil); Patrick Sakiusa Fong (Fiji); Juan Mate (Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape-Panama); Diego Quiroga (Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape-Ecuador); Giselle Samonte-Tan (comparison across Focus Areas). View the Work Plan >>

• Ecological effects of no-take MMAs. We are investigating several existing but still unanalyzed data sets to determine the ecological effects of MMAs in the Philippines. Principal investigator: Amanda Vincent. View the Work Plan >>

• Diagnostic system for ecosystem health. We are developing and piloting a new standard diagnostic system to evaluate the health of coral reef communities within MMAs. Principal investigator: Enric Sala. View the Work Plan >>

• Advanced biosensors. We are developing the information and diagnostic tools to provide greater understanding and power in performing microbial assays and genetic tests to predict early onset of stress to coral colonies (e.g., bleaching and disease). Principal investigators: Forest Rowher and John Finnerty.
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• Extinction resistance. We are assessing abundance and distribution of threatened marine biodiversity to determine the effectiveness of existing MMA networks at protecting these imperiled species. Principal investigator: Tom Brooks.
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Science to Action

• Belize: Based on field research results and workshops, we are developing a predictive decision-support tool to be used by the Belizean government and other stakeholders in informing the management decision-making process.

• Brazil: Our scientists discovered extensive new areas of coral reefs with high levels of biodiversity on the Albrolhos Bank but outside of the existing MMA. After the discovery, the Brazilian govern¬ment proposed new park boundaries to afford more protection for the Bank's fish and coral species, many of which live nowhere else in the world.

• Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape: Based in part on MMAS-supported research in Coiba National Park, a partnership of scientists, fishermen, conservation organizations, and park managers agreed to pursue new fisheries regulations to ensure long-term sustainable use of targeted economically valuable species.

• Global: We shared preliminary results of our research at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October 2008. At the workshop, a hundred marine protected area (MPA) managers, policy-makers and scientists explored the positive and negative effects of MPAs on livelihoods, cultural heritage, and community governance based on experiences around the world. Organizers of the Congress were Conservation International, Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and University of Washington.