Evaluating the management effectiveness of marine protected areas at seven selected sites in the Philippines

Fisheries is a vital sector in the Philippine economy, providing a significant source of both domestic and export earnings while meeting essential food security and nutritional requirements. However, marine resources in the Philippines are facing increasing pressure from overfishing, destructive fishing practices, habitat destruction, declining water quality and limited management capacity. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are part of the management strategy to address these issues but the majority of MPAs around the world do not meet their management objectives. This paper discusses the identification and testing of management effectiveness indicators to evaluate MPA management for seven sites in the Philippines. The selection of 14 indicators was a participatory process that involved representatives from the academe, civil society groups, fishing associations, local government units (LGUs), national government agencies and research institutions. Overall, the majority of the indicators are rated positive but there is significant room for improvement, particularly in areas of resource use conflict, availability and allocation of resources and interaction between MPA managers and stakeholders. It is imperative that MPAs across the Philippines be managed and implemented as a network to maximize conservation and fisheries management. Moreover, given that the Philippines lies in the Coral Triangle area of the highest marine biodiversity in the world, increased political will and support for MPAs is urgently needed to meet global marine biodiversity targets and allow the Philippines to be an example of effective marine biodiversity conservation.