Abstract
It is not enough to simply designate a protected area. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11, these sites should be governed and managed effectively and equitably. Equitable (i.e., fair and inclusive) conservation is vital to ensuring effective protection of natural resources while maintaining human well-being. Yet, equity tends to be overlooked in protected area assessments. Three marine protected areas (MPAs) in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland were selected to assess equitable governance and management in the Irish Sea. This is one of the first studies to assess equity across multiple stakeholder groups in MPAs. The Site-level Assessment for Governance and Equity (SAGE) toolkit, developed by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to address the gap in equity assessments, was used to evaluate equitable governance and management in these MPAs. Based on the three dimensions of equity (recognition, distribution, and procedure), SAGE contains Likert-scale questions to assess good governance by evaluating how different stakeholder groups perceive their protected area’s management and how included they feel in decision-making. Quantitative data from SAGE is complemented by qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with stakeholders to understand the impact MPA management has on local communities and MPA users. The results of this study reveal a lack of communication between MPA authorities and local stakeholders. They highlight the need for co-management in the form of inclusive partnerships as an alternative to the current top-down governance approach favoed in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Highlights
Anthropogenic threats to the marine environment, such as overfishing and pollution, are making effective conservation a necessity to ensure the continued flow of ecosystem services that are vital to the Earth and its inhabitants (Halpern et al, 2008; Claudet, 2011; Fraschetti et al, 2011; Long et al, 2015)
The Site-level Assessment for Governance and Equity (SAGE) toolkit responses show that scores (1–4 scale) from non-management stakeholders tended to be lower compared to management scores
This study shows that stakeholders care about their marine environment and the presence of advocacy groups such as Love Your Lough, community membership of the Solway Firth Partnership (SFP), and stakeholder participation in citizen science projects such as Coastwatch and Seasearch demonstrate that there are volunteers willing to work toward more effective conservation of their marine protected areas (MPAs) and they should be given the chance to be included in decision-making through partnerships or co-management (Rush and Solandt, 2017; Singer and Jones, 2018; Johnson et al, 2019; Voorberg and Van der Veer, 2020)
Summary
Anthropogenic threats to the marine environment, such as overfishing and pollution, are making effective conservation a necessity to ensure the continued flow of ecosystem services that are vital to the Earth and its inhabitants (Halpern et al, 2008; Claudet, 2011; Fraschetti et al, 2011; Long et al, 2015). An MPA is a clearly defined area for the effective protection and conservation of species, habitats, and natural and cultural resources within the marine environment. While initially created solely for biological conservation purposes, MPAs are designated to promote the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of ecosystem services (Hill et al, 2016). At the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan (2010), the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 was laid out. It includes the Aichi Targets, a set of conservation objectives supporting biodiversity and human well-being. Aichi Target 11 focusses on PAs and states: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape (Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD], 2011)
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