California Marine Protected Area (MPA) Watch Count Survey Data 2012-2020

Marine Protected Area (MPA) Watch is a network of programs that support healthy oceans through community science by collecting human use data in and around our protected areas. This statewide network of programs provide valuable insights for managing, enforcing, and studying California’s MPAs by monitoring over 115 sites along the coast, including areas outside the MPA network for comparison. Volunteers from each partner program (as of 2026, 12 different programs) are trained in standardized data collection methods and given information about each of the sites they will be surveying. Every training consists of a classroom and a field portion that teaches them how to collect unbiased data as they walk beaches to record human activities. The long-term data is compiled in a statewide database and reflects changes in resource use over time.

MPA Watch volunteers monitor all human uses in MPAs including a wide variety of activities and can be grouped into four categories based on whether they remove resources and where the activity occurs. Non-consumptive recreational activities do not extract resources (like walking, swimming, surfing, and boating) while consumptive activities do (like fishing and collecting). Volunteers also record whether the activity happens on the beach (onshore) or in the water (offshore). Survey data are collected at various sites throughout California by walking along a predetermined route and keeping track of observed activities on an MPA Watch datasheet. Manuals for volunteer training are included in the archive.

This data in this archive is drawn from the MPA Watch database maintained by Green Info Network (interactive map viewer found at: https://mpawatch.org/map/ ), for surveys conducted between 2012 and 2020 (inclusive). The dataset is analyzed in a peer reviewed publication. The code used to analyze the data and visualize the results is included.

海洋保护区（Marine Protected Area, MPA）观察项目是一个由多个项目组成的协作网络，通过社区科学手段在保护区及其周边收集人类活动数据，以维护海洋生态健康。该覆盖全州的项目网络通过对加州沿岸115余个监测点（含保护区网络外用于对照研究的区域）开展常态化监测，为加州海洋保护区的管理、执法与科研工作提供了极具价值的决策参考。截至2026年，该网络涵盖12个合作项目，各项目的志愿者均需接受标准化数据采集方法培训，并提前掌握其将负责调查的所有监测点的相关信息。每一次培训均包含课堂教学与实地实操两个环节，指导志愿者在沿岸滩涂徒步记录人类活动时，如何采集无偏倚的有效数据。长期监测数据将汇总至全州统一数据库，可直观反映区域内资源利用情况随时间的变化趋势。

MPA观察项目的志愿者会对海洋保护区内的所有人类活动进行全覆盖监测，涵盖多元活动类型，根据是否消耗海洋资源以及活动发生的空间场景，可将其划分为四大类别。其中，非消耗性休闲活动不提取海洋资源，例如徒步、游泳、冲浪与划船等；而消耗性活动则会消耗海洋资源，例如垂钓与海洋生物采集等。志愿者同时需记录活动是发生在滩涂（陆上，onshore）还是水域（近海，offshore）。调查数据通过沿预设路线徒步的方式，在加州各地的监测点采集，并如实记录于MPA观察项目专用数据表中。本档案库中亦包含志愿者培训的全套手册。

本档案库所收录的数据，取自绿色信息网络（Green Info Network）维护的MPA观察项目数据库（交互式地图查看器网址：https://mpawatch.org/map/），涵盖2012年至2020年（含首尾年份）开展的所有野外调查数据。该数据集已在同行评议的学术出版物中进行了系统分析，档案库中同时附带用于数据分析与结果可视化的完整代码。