We are proud of having generated many marine protected areas (MPAs). Seahorses and other marine species need healthy marine ecosystems and good fisheries management to flourish. Marine protected areas remove fishing pressure and other practices that damage habitats and harm populations. By applying expertise in both biology and social work, we empower communities to establish and sustain MPAs that benefit marine life and people alike.
Bayley, D.T., Purvis, A., Nellas, A.C., Arias, M. & H.J. Koldewey
Tropical coral reefs are subject to multiple pressures from both natural and anthropogenic sources. These pressures have caused widespread declines in reef health, resulting in the increased use of spatial management tools such as marine protected areas (MPAs). MPAs have proven generally effective if well designed and enforced, but there are limited long-term studies investigating … Read more Measuring the long-term success of small-scale marine protected areas in a Philippine reef fishery
A leading argument for no-take marine protected area (marine reserve) establishment is their contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, but the impacts of reserves on ecosystem functioning have seldom been quantified. This is unusual given the value of services provided by ocean ecosystems to human well-being. While no single index can describe ecosystem function, a … Read more Marine reserves drive both taxonomic and functional change in coral reef invertebrate communities
Abstract In this paper, we examine the role of gender in community-based management of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Central Philippines. MPAs are a common conservation and fisheries management tool in this area, but the relationship between gendered fishing practices and participatory MPA management is rarely considered. In this region, women and men’s fishing … Read more Gender and marine protected areas: a case study of Danajon Bank, Philippines.
To confirm their effectiveness, long-term monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical. Such longitudinal sampling can, however, pose problems of methodology, particularly as more preferred tools may evolve over time. My research sought to understand how two commonly used methods, line intercept transect (LIT) and photoquadrat (PQ), which were used sequentially in MPA monitoring, … Read more Costs and benefits of changing sampling methods in long-term monitoring of marine protected areas
