Marine Protected Areas: A Governance System Analysis

Abstract

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are promoted as an important marine ecosystem management tool. However, they are complex systems that, from a governance perspective, raise serious challenges with regard to their effectiveness. In this paper, drawing on recent contributions to the so-called "interactive governance theory," we argue that marine and coastal governance is basically a relationship between two systems, a "governing system" and a "system-to-be-governed." The former system is social: it is made up of institutions and steering mechanisms. The latter system is partly natural, partly social: it consists of an ecosystem, and the resources that this harbours, as well as a system of users and stakeholders who, among themselves, form political coalitions and institutions. We need to be concerned with the relationship and the interaction between the governing system and the system-to-be governed, which forms a system in its own right. Governance theory argues that both systems and their interactions share similar attributes-they are diverse, complex, dynamic and vulnerable. This raises serious concerns as to their governability. There may be limits to what the governing system can do, limits attributed to one or all three systems. But such limits are themselves issues and concerns for planning and institutional design. In this paper we present, in the form of a governance matrix, the relevant issues and concerns with regard to the governability of MPAs.

Taxonomies for structuring models for World-Earth system analysis of the Anthropocene: subsystems, their interactions and social-ecological feedback loops

“…There is now a number of conceptualisations of social-ecological or coupled human-environment systems in environmental, sustainability and Earth system science 20 (e.g. Vernadsky (1929Vernadsky ( /1986Schellnhuber (1998);Fischer-Kowalski and Erb (2006);Jentoft et al (2007); Biggs et al (2012)) but we see a pressing need to structure modelling efforts across communities, providing a joint framework while maintaining the conceptual flexibility required for successful cross-disciplinary collaboration.…”

“…Governance-centred classification schemes in social-ecological systems research (Jentoft et al, 2007;Biggs et al, 2012), in the tradition of Ostrom (Ostrom, 2009), can also be brought into our taxonomy. Categories of the governance (sub)system link CUL and MET, and the (sub)system to be governed (ENV and MET) links the biophysical resources to be used with the social agents who will use them.…”

From measuring outcomes to providing inputs: Governance, management, and local development for more effective marine protected areas

“…Though a more extensive discussion of the role of context in determining outcomes is beyond the scope of the current paper, the importance of considering context in the design of governance, management, and development inputs for MPAs cannot be overstated. Otherwise, there is a "risk of misfit" to the context resulting in ineffectual or even counter productive actions [107].…”

“…The attributes of co-management include the incorporation of traditional and scientific knowledge into management, the pivotal role played by local stakeholders leading to increased empowerment for local communities and reduced enforcement costs, and the creation of partnerships across organizations at various scales which helps to mitigate against local and macro level uncertainties [89,111]. Legitimacy and support are gained through the sharing of power and participation [107]. Yet comanagement also faces challenges related to increased bureaucracy, funding uncertainty, time commitments, local capacity and willingness to participate, and achievement of an appropriate balance of governmental and community input and control [120,139,155].…”

Scotland's Marine Protected Area network: Reviewing progress towards achieving commitments for marine conservation

“…Consultation and the right to participate in environmental decision-making, is in many countries a democratic requirement by law or policy (as it is in the EU under the Aarhus Convention), with the ultimate decision-making power and funding decisions retained by the government (Day 2002). Two things will be essential in the on-going Scottish MPA process for a successful management approach and stakeholder relations: the first is continued effective engagement with stakeholders and the second is transparency and accountability over decision-making (Jentoft et al 2007). …”