Identifying Indicators to Evaluate Community-Managed Freshwater Protected Areas in the Lower Mekong Basin: A Review of Marine and Freshwater Examples

Erin Loury,Shaara Ainsley

doi:10.3390/w12123530

Abstract

Protected areas are frequently established as a management tool to conserve terrestrial and aquatic habitats and species. Monitoring and evaluation are a necessary part of adaptive management to determine whether such protected areas are effectively meeting their objectives. While numerous initiatives have developed methods to evaluate terrestrial and marine protected areas (MPAs), similar efforts and resources are lacking for freshwater protected areas (FPAs), which have become widespread as a community-based fisheries management approach in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). This review summarizes published literature on the evaluation of marine and freshwater protected areas to provide guidance on the evaluation of community-managed FPAs in the LMB. Specifically, the review examines several indicators related to common objectives of aquatic protected areas and provides considerations for measuring these indicators in the context of community-managed freshwater protected areas in the LMB. Key conclusions include that first, FPAs should be established with clearly defined objectives, and these objectives should inform the selection of indicators for evaluation. Second, indicators identified for MPAs are highly relevant to FPAs, although methods may require adaptation to a freshwater environment. Finally, socioeconomic and governance indicators are overlooked in both MPA and FPA evaluations compared to biophysical indicators, and interdisciplinary assessment teams could ensure these indicators receive adequate consideration.

Highlights

The protection of aquatic habitats and species has gained momentum around the world through the growing establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) [1,2,3] and, to a lesser extent, freshwater protected areas (FPAs) [4]
The review examines several indicators related to common objectives of aquatic protected areas and provides considerations for measuring these indicators in the context of community-managed freshwater protected areas in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB)
Socioeconomic and governance indicators are overlooked in both MPA and FPA evaluations compared to biophysical indicators, and interdisciplinary assessment teams could ensure these indicators receive adequate consideration

Summary

Introduction

The protection of aquatic habitats and species has gained momentum around the world through the growing establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) [1,2,3] and, to a lesser extent, freshwater protected areas (FPAs) [4]. Following the establishment of such aquatic protected areas (APAs) in freshwater or marine habitats, monitoring and evaluation are required to determine whether they are effectively meeting their intended objectives. While several initiatives have developed methods for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of terrestrial and marine protected areas e.g., [5,6,7,8], similar efforts and resources are lacking for freshwater. This presents an opportunity to review methods of evaluating MPAs to find lessons that may be transferred to FPAs [9].

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Discussion

Conclusion