Page 20 - Himes_2007

ARTICLE IN PRESS
348 A.H. Himes / Ocean & Coastal Management 50 (2007) 329–351
managers can bring important stakeholders on board and allow them to participate in
management and decision-making, a protected area can more easily gain social acceptance,
meet a variety of stakeholder needs, and begin to be more successful in everyone’s eyes. But
if stakeholder interests and objectives are in direct conflict with one another, how is the
achievement of MPA objectives and targets affected? In such cases, is it possible for a
protected area to ever become an overall success?
As the marine environment and stakeholder interests change and evolve, so does the
concept of ‘success.’ With this argument, it becomes clear that the concept of ‘success’ will
always remain relatively elusive. The purpose then of the present research is not to directly
define what constitutes the definition of ‘success’ in the EIMR, but rather to identify and
compare the most important aspects of management as perceived by each stakeholder
group. This information can then be used in making trade-offs in management decisions
that are directly informed by stakeholders and that can be actively used to improve MPA
effectiveness.

7. Conclusion

To develop successful MPA institutions, implementation, and achieve results, manage-
ment objectives must be defined, targets set and evaluations done to monitor the overall
achievement of those targets. Frequently, MPA governing bodies have taken on these
responsibilities in their attempts at management. More often than not, however, managers
fail to recognize and encompass stakeholder opinions in their attempt at realizing a
successful MPA. Individual stakeholders in MPA management often exhibit conflicting
needs and interests. Consequently, conflicting management objectives and points of view
usually develop on how natural resources should be managed. These differences can allow
stakeholders to work together to develop a unique definition of ‘success’ that may consider
the economic, social, biological, or management components of performance, or perhaps a
mixture thereof, and help managers improve MPA management. Therefore, in order to
achieve a well-rounded and well-performing MPA, managers must begin to recognize and
incorporate these differences into management plans and interventions.
The EIMR case study presented in this paper is designed to highlight some of the
variation in stakeholders preferences for MPA performance indicators and management
interventions that should be undertaken to achieve those indicators. The results presented
here have provided significant insight into the priorities that local stakeholders give to
various performance indicators that can then be used to develop management
interventions that will lead to a more successful MPA.
It is evident that there are distinct differences both between and within stakeholder
groups regarding individual conceptualization of MPA ‘success.’ It is clear, in the case of
the EIMR, that even within stakeholder groups (e.g. fishers, residents, managers), no
consensus exists for stakeholder preferences in defining ‘success.’ Interestingly, the same
result was found in the two Indonesian MPAs where stakeholders were asked questions
similar to those discussed here [31,32]. Individuals interviewed in those MPAs tended to
provide indicators of ‘success’ that were not related to any particular stakeholder group
affiliation and did not show any pattern of responses that could be explained.
At least in the EIMR, this result indicates two conclusions. First, stakeholders as groups
may not have a consensus or clear idea about the purpose of the MPA and that individual
preferences for performance indicators vary widely depending on their unique needs and