Editorial

Integrating management of marine protected areas with coastal and ocean governance: Principles and practices

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have traditionally been managed as “islands of protection,” quite separately from the governance of the larger ocean and coastal areas in which they are embedded. Management of MPAs and integrated coastal management (ICM) of the broader coastal and ocean areas have also typically involved different agencies, people, and approaches. This isolation of MPAs has all too often resulted in lack of success in fulfilling the goals of the MPA, because of the effects of factors that emanate from outside park boundaries such as over-fishing, pollution, and habitat destruction.

To date, however, there has been little work in identifying the ecological, social, and economic linkages between MPAs and broader coastal and ocean management, nor in examining alternative approaches for linking governance regimes in MPAs to coastal management institutions in effect, in the larger ocean and coastal area. The articles contained in this issue, first presented at the World Parks Congress held in Durban, South Africa in September 2003, draw on specific case studies in both developed and developing countries, and present guidelines and recommendations to fill the gap that has been identified in this area of ocean and coastal governance.

Providing a substantive overview of MPAs as they relate to broader ocean issues, in their paper Linking Marine Protected Areas to Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management: a Review of Theory and Practice, B. Cicin-Sain and S. Belfiore present an overview of theory, practices, and opportunities for linking MPAs into an integrated ocean and coastal governance system. In particular, the authors develop a set of nine principles to guide the linkage of MPAs to broader ocean and coastal governance. Based on contributions and discussions from a number of experts from both the MPA and ICM communities of scholars and practitioners (that took place at two workshops held, respectively, at the Coastal Zone 2003 Conference in Baltimore, USA, on 12–14 July 2003, and at the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, on 10 September 2003), this set of principles has since been expanded and produced as a guidance document by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) [reference?].

The remaining papers in this special issue present evidence of success, as well as obstacles and problems faced and approaches followed, in linking MPAs to ICM in various cases in a range of developed and developing countries, e.g., the United States of America, Kenya, Belize, the Philippines, and in the Wadden Sea (shared by Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands).

In their paper Linkages between the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, B.D. Keller and B.D. Causey examine integrated coastal management as it has been applied to marine protected areas in Florida. The use of multiple stakeholder management involvement includes federal, state, and local governments, as well as an advisory council specific to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The focus of integrated coastal management in this case incorporates many marine protected areas originally established for multiple use purposes. Co-operative agreements among various stakeholders played a vital role in establishing linkages among federal, state, and local agencies in protection of the MPA. The FKNMS is tied to the Florida Coastal Management Program, and encompasses an existing set of small MPAs originally established with different goals. The sanctuary makes extensive use of zoning, and relies on cooperative agreements with state and local agencies to address external influences such as land-based pollution.

In their article Management of the Kenyan Coast, T.R. McClanahan, S. Mwaguni, and N.A, Muthiga examine contemporary problems encountered with traditional marine protected areas and approaches used in Kenya to implement integrated coastal management. The Kenya case study illustrates a situation in which an ICM program has been superimposed and worked concurrently with an existing MPA. Among other actions addressing sectoral aspects, including the protection of critical habitats, the ICM program has provided measures in support of the MPA, such as the installation of mooring buoys to avoid anchoring on coral reefs, and the organization of beach clean-ups . The connection between the MPA and the ICM program is also apparent in the policy to enhance inter-sectoral communication and co-ordination through the CMSC [SPELL OUT] to examine, in an integrated manner, the various issues at stake in the coastal zone.

Marine Protected Areas: a Tool for Integrated Coastal Management in Belize by L. Cho provides an analysis of the integration practices adopted in the management of marine protected areas in Belize based on work through an international project to strategically integrate the area within an ICM policy. Originally lacking a system that accounted for land-based activities, management of marine protected areas shifted toward the use of integrated coastal management as a co-ordination method. Although challenges still exist in these areas, the study acknowledges the advances made through the implementation of this type of management approach. The case study of Belize illustrates a situation in which MPAs are recognized as a strategic component of the ICM policy, and where a large-scale international project funded by the Global Environmental Facility supports policies established at the national level. The centralized government system allows for better co-ordination among different agencies, although the impacts of the initiative cannot yet be assessed.

A.T. White, R.-L. Eisma-Osorio and S.J. Green examine the history and development of integrated coastal management in marine protected areas in their article Integrated Coastal Management and Marine Protected Areas: Complementarity in the Philippines. Highlighted in this area is the 1991 shift in national policy toward devolution of authority over marine protected areas toward localized management practices. Important to the continued development of management practices in this area include community involvement, the use of multiple stakeholders, new methodologies in financial use, periodic monitoring and evaluation feedback to managers, and the placement of marine protected areas within an integrated coastal management framework.

In her paper, Integrated Coastal Management and Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines: Concurrent Developments, M.C. Balgos presents an analysis of the history of the management of marine protected areas in the Philippines, as well as the approaches and principles used that are unique to the Philippines. This case study illustrates the need for community capacity building, public participation and education, and monitoring and evaluation in the establishment and implementation of MPAs. This case also indicates the importance of assigning a full-time worker to the community from the very beginning of the initiative throughout the implementation of the MPAs. However, over time, there should be a gradual change in the roles among the community, the field worker and the intervening institution, with the community taking on increasing responsibility as their capacity increases, and with continuing support from external institutions within a region to ensure sustainability of these initiatives.

The Wadden Sea Protection and Management Scheme—Towards an Integrated Coastal Management Approach? by J. Enemark evaluates a specific case study of integrated coastal management applied to a marine protected area that is shared by Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, in an effort unprecedented in issues of international collaboration. The paper examines the 25 yr history of the Wadden Sea as a large marine protected area, and both the national and international framework used to establish management practices. Recommendations for improvement in this area are also given within the context of the current discussion of European Union integrated coastal management approaches to marine protected areas. The case of the Wadden Sea is exemplary in demonstrating how international cooperation has been set up to address in a co-ordinated way the joint management of an area of great natural value, also through the application of EU legislation. The trilateral Wadden Sea co-operation also demonstrates a nature conservation initiative that has subsequently expanded to include a more comprehensive ICM approach aimed also at fostering economic activities such as sustainable tourism.

In Protected Areas and Coastal and Ocean Management in Mexico, J.E. Bezaury-Creel looks at the history of marine protected areas in Mexico through the lens of the non-systematic approach used in their creation—since a formal ICM policy designed to implement a program of marine and coastal issues does not exist. As a result, non-traditional means of instituting MPAs have been utilizing collaborative multiple stakeholder and interagency processes in the past. Despite gains made in management practices through the incorporation of interagency and multiple stakeholder involvement in their design, marine protected areas in Mexico need a more effective approach to governance than presently exists to ensure successful survival of these areas. They remain insufficiently connected to broader coastal management practices.

As noted in the overview paper by Cicin-Sain and Belfiore, two congruent trends in MPA and in ICM management reinforce the importance of developing integrated approaches and drawing lessons on “best practices” in MPA/ICM linkages. As called for at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the MPA community is interested in “scaling up” MPA practice by creating networks of marine protected areas with connectivity among them. Similarly, the ICM community, is interested in “scaling up” ICM efforts, many of which (particularly in developing countries) have been focused on small areas of the coast (typically through pilot or demonstration projects) to ultimately the entire coastal zone of a nation. The papers in this issue are intended to advance more strategic and integrative thinking on the part of both the MPA and ICM communities, and provide better opportunities for addressing the connections between the management of marine protected areas, and broader ocean and coastal governance.