Assessing stakeholder perceptions to guide social and ecological fit of marine protected areas
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Effective social and ecological interventions that can benefit both nature and people are needed to halt the degradation of ecosystems and subsequent negative impacts on human well-being. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly used to foster the sustainability of coastal social-ecological systems. However, because MPAs are often proposed and implemented by external actors, ensuring they are fit to the local social and ecological context remains a challenge. Here, we introduce a framework to identify the place-based social and ecological goals for an MPA. We use a marine conservation project in the Philippines as a case study. We assess the perceptions of local communities and decision-makers across four categories: (i) marine importance, (ii) environmental stressors, (iii) proposed management options, and (iv) MPA goals and needs. Assessing these is a way to refine marine conservation goals locally, adapt the implementation of planned interventions, and monitor their future outcomes.
Journal
iScience
Publication Name
iScience
Volume
27
ISBN/ISSN
2589-0042
Edition
N/A
Issue
10
Pages Count
13
Location
N/A
Publisher
Cell Press
Publisher Url
N/A
Publisher Location
N/A
Publish Date
N/A
Url
N/A
Date
N/A
EISSN
N/A
DOI
10.1016/j.isci.2024.110952