The Human Dimension of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas: Recent Social Science Research and Its Policy Implications

Abstract

Coral reefs provide ecosystem goods and services to millions of people around the world (Cesar et al. 1997; Costanza et al. 1997). The long-term sustainability of these ecosystem benefits is threatened, however, by direct overexploitation of coral reef resources, destructive fishing practices, air and water pollution, and climate change (Wilkinson 2000). Traditional efforts to manage coral reefs—species by species, sector by sector—have proven insufficient to ensure resource sustainability or to protect biodiversity against these threats, spurring calls for an ecosystem-oriented approach (Botsford et al. 1997; Cicin-Sain & Knecht 1998; National Research Council 1999, 2001 ). Central to this ecosystem approach to coral reef management are marine protected areas (MPAs), a family of spatially explicit marine management systems that includes underwater parks, fishery reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries (National Research Council 1999, 2001). Coral reef MPAs have yet to realize their full potential. Although the number of coral reef MPAs has grown rapidly in recent years, their performance remains highly variable (Kelleher et al. 1995; Halpern in press; M. G. Pajaro, C. M. Nozawa, M. N. Lavides, and S. Gutierrez. 2000. Status of marine protected areas in the Philippines: better management of coral reefs and coastal areas in the tropics. Paper presented at the 9th ICRS [hereafter referred to as Pajaro et al. 2000].). Research suggests that social factors, not biological or physical variables, are the primary determinants of MPA success or failure (Kelleher & Recchia 1998; McClanahan 1999). Efforts to design more effective coral reef MPAs are hindered, however, by the dearth of social scientific research into the human dimensions of MPA development and management. Social science research presented during the ninth International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS; in Bali, Indonesia, 2000) provides valuable insights into the human dimensions of coral reef MPAs. Here I synthesize findings from social science MPA research delivered at the ICRS and suggest several implications of these findings for coral reef MPA policy.