Abstract
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) exhibit enormous variety of size, location and management. They include long-term, traditional management systems that are now being incorporated into national protected area networks, along with many newly designated areas imposed by governments and sometimes, tentatively, by the international community. The considerable amount of time and money usually needed to set up an MPA is only justified if the results match the investment. This chapter is about finding out what this means, and whether MPAs are actually proving to be effective conservation mechanisms. Three influences are important: how the MPA is managed; who makes the decisions; and how effective the MPA is in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Determining the real governance systems in MPAs can be tricky but is an essential part of understanding how they function. In practice, governments remain the commonest decision-makers in MPAs, particularly in offshore sites.
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