Linking coral reef conservation interventions to social and ecological impacts

Corals reefs are increasingly under pressure, with the rapidly changing environment and increase in human populations leading to more intensive use of marine resources. To reduce local threats on coral reefs, marine protected... [ view full abstract ]

Corals reefs are increasingly under pressure, with the rapidly changing environment and increase in human populations leading to more intensive use of marine resources. To reduce local threats on coral reefs, marine protected areas (MPAs) are the most commonly used conservation intervention. MPAs come in many forms ranging in how that are established and  designed to reach thoses conservation objectives.  While MPAs have been show to have positive social and ecological outcomes, this is not always the case; key to their future success is understanding underlying conditions that lead to different outcomes. Recent global studies have documented characteristics of MPAs that have led to positive ecological outcomes, however, the resolution and conclusions of these studies remains coarse.  Here, we present a study in the Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) in Indonesia, the epicenter of coral reef diversity, that uses a rigorous quasi-impact evaluation design to examine both social and ecological impacts in an MPA network.   We find variation in results within and among both indicators and MPAs.  While we begin to disentagle characteristics leading to this variation, there are general trends in the region that we hypthosize are driving these changes.  The MPA has reduced fishing pressure in certain areas and been successful at removing large fishing vessels from entering waters within the MPAs boundaries.  In addition, while the BHS has been spared of wide-scale climate change impacts, this is a region that is experiencing increases in population, infrastructure, and due the MPAs success – a large increase in tourism.