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ARTICLE IN PRESS
330 A.H. Himes / Ocean & Coastal Management 50 (2007) 329–351
moving forward with a meaningful discussion over the future management of MPAs and
how they can be more successful, it is essential that communities and managing authorities
agree on common aspirations and expectations. Many studies have shown that stakeholder
input is critical in increasing stakeholder buy-in to the management process, developing
the goals and objectives of an MPA, identifying appropriate management effectiveness
indicators by which to measure MPA effectiveness, and ultimately critical to successful
management [5–7]. As a result, researchers have been developing new methods to uncover
stakeholders’ opinions of past, present, and future management strategies, the results of
which can be used to improve MPA management overall and increase support by local
stakeholders [8–10].
In recent years, many methods have been developed to get at the heart of this, including
the IUCN’s ‘‘How is Your MPA doing?’’ Workbook [5], the United Nations Foundation’s
‘‘World Heritage Management Effectiveness Workbook’’ [11], the IUCN Eastern African
Regional Programme’s Workbook for the Western Indian Ocean [12], and the World
Bank’s Score Card to assess progress in achieving goals for MPAs [13]. These methods all
argue that the inclusion of information on the human context of the MPA is essential for
assessing sources of stress to the local marine ecosystem, developing effective conservation
strategies, measuring threat abatement, increasing stakeholder buy-in, and increasing
stakeholder compliance.
The purpose of this paper is to delve into how the definition of ‘success’ in individual
MPAs can be crafted from the compilation of differing stakeholder viewpoints. The
concept of ‘success’ is inherently a social construct; different people, depending on their
background and stakeholder affiliations, will construct its definition differently [6,14].By
analyzing the opinions of stakeholders in MPA evaluation, a much more appropriate
definition of ‘success’ in MPAs can be constructed from the reality of individual
communities and MPAs [2,15–18]. The purpose of using such an approach is an attempt to
involve stakeholders at all levels of analysis of MPA performance, to identify and combine
social, economic, and ecological contextual factors and criteria for use in management
evaluation, and ultimately provide for better fundamental management of the MPA [19].
The present research aimed at using both qualitative and quantitative data to analyze
the overall socio-economic impact of a Mediterranean MPA on local stakeholders and
subsequent stakeholder preferences for performance indicators in achieving a successful
protected area. It was understood that perceptions form an important component of
completely understanding the interfaces between biophysical reality, management, and the
perceived purpose and role of conservation. However, although many authors note the
relevance of the issue of considering local perceptions in social research [20–22], few
explore their specific content, how they are socially constructed, and how they influence
behavior [23].
MPAs typically affect heterogeneous communities that include many stakeholders with
diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives and outlooks on the marine environment. It
is therefore fundamental to successful conservation that these diverse perceptions are
explored and considered. Yet, the perceptions and attitudes of the various stakeholders
concerned with the marine environment can significantly affect the outcomes and therefore
the overall performance of an MPA. The outcome of the decision-making process, and
therefore success or failure in reaching management objectives, can be affected
considerably by the reaction of those affected by an MPA to the regulations and the
level of participation in management that they are allowed.