Enhancing MPA management effectiveness for the Calamianes Islands MPA network, Palawan Province, Philippines final report (June 30 2009)

"Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have received much attention in recent years as an alternative approach to traditional fisheries management (Roberts et al. 2001; Halpern 2003; Mora et al. 2006). The primary goals of MPAs are to protect critical habitat and biodiversity, and to sustain or enhance fisheries by preventing spawning stock collapse and providing recruitment to fished areas (Roberts et al. 2001; Halpern 2003). Establishment of MPAs has been practiced in the Philippines since the 1970s with more than 430 MPA sites legally established (Pajaro et al. 1999). Despite the many potential benefits of MPAs to coastal management programs (Halpern 2003), the majority of MPAs do not meet their management objectives (Mora et al. 2006). In order to improve the management of these MPAs, the project titled 'Enhancing MPA Management Effectiveness for the Calamianes Islands MPA Network, Palawan Province, Philippines' was launched to develop, refine and test indicators of MPA effectiveness. The objective of this project was to assess the management effectiveness of a network of MPAs in the Calamianes Islands, northern Palawan, Philippines using a suite of biophysical, socioeconomic and governance variables ('indicators') appropriate to regional conditions that influence the performance of MPAs. The majority of these indicators were developed by the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in a joint initiative aimed at improving the management of MPAs (Pomeroy et al 2004; Ehler et al. 2002). This paper aims to evaluate the management effectiveness of the MPA network in the Calamianes Islands, in additional to the traditional evaluation of individual MPAs"--Executive summary. 2009 CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System) Library Public Domain 1858