The role of science in supporting marine protected area network planning and design in California

Abstract

Marine protected areas (MPAs) can be an effective tool for marine conservation, especially if conservation goals are clearly identified and MPAs are designed in accordance with ecological principles to meet those goals. In California (USA), the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative led four regional public planning processes to design a statewide network of MPAs. The MLPA planning processes were carefully structured to provide a clearly-defined and important role for science and scientists. Over 50 scientists contributed directly to this MPA planning effort as members of a Science Advisory Team or in other capacities. Stakeholders were charged with developing alternative MPA proposals in each region, while scientists served as advisors and evaluated MPA proposals against science-based guidelines. Four key conditions supported the successful integration of science into the MPA network planning effort. First, the MLPA legislation provided a strong legal mandate for the use of the best readily available science and policy-makers strongly supported scientific input and the use of science-based MPA design guidelines. Second, the structure of the public planning process clearly identified the role of scientists and enabled a transparent and participatory process that promoted the use of science. Third, simple science-based MPA design guidelines provided benchmarks for assessing the likely effectiveness of alternative MPA proposals at achieving MLPA goals. Finally, scientists were engaged extensively and were responsive to the evolving informational needs of each regional MPA planning process. The redesigned statewide network of MPAs generally reflects the successful integration of science and science-based MPA design guidelines into a public policy process.