ASFB Home > Potential Changes in Prey Population Structure Following Removal of Predators by Fishing

Stakeholder Participation and the Scientific Method in Performance Assessment of Marine Protected Areas: Maximising Benefits and Minimising Conflicts

Nancy Dahl-Tacconi

University of Queensland, JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Theme: TH4

Marine protected area (MPA) managers are under increasing pressure from stakeholders to demonstrate that the design and the management of MPAs are actually achieving their stated objectives. There is general agreement amongst managers and stakeholders that some kind of assessment must be done to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of ongoing management strategies in order to justify and guide future management decisions. The management of MPAs is, however, complex and a system to assess the performance of that management is also necessarily complex. Some recent progress has been made in developing useful guidelines to help managers to focus on the suite of questions that need to be addressed in a comprehensive performance assessment system that will inform adaptive management over time. The information requirements of such a system are potentially vast and they depend largely on the perceptions of the stakeholders (such as managers, politicians, conservationists, users, scientists, government agencies, communities and other special interest groups), each of whom have their own distinct views on what information is most meaningful and understandable. Managers thus face a dilemma in deciding how to design and implement a performance assessment system that will satisfy the needs of their various stakeholders. This contribution examines the roles of hard science and those of stakeholder participation in designing and implementing a performance assessment system for MPAs. The advantages and disadvantages of using each approach exclusively are identified and suggestions are made for designing and implementing individualised performance assessment systems that incorporate both, maximise the benefits of each, and minimise conflicts.