Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Participation, Process Quality, and Performance of Marine Protected Areas in the Wider Caribbean

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Throughout the wider Caribbean, marine protected areas (MPAs) are rapidly gaining momentum as a conservation tool, but management performance of existing MPAs is considered low. To enhance MPA management performance, stakeholders are increasingly being invited to discuss, debate, and develop rules about how people should interact with marine ecosystems. Using social and ecological data from a rapid assessment of 31 MPAs and their associated communities in the wider Caribbean, this study investigates stakeholder participation in MPA planning and management, and how participants’ views of process quality relate to MPA performance. Findings indicate that (1) participants tended to be male, resource users, participate in community organizations, and have lived fewer years in the community associated with an MPA than non-participants; (2) simply participating was not associated with perceptions of the social and ecological performance of MPAs, however, perceptions of process quality were positively related to views of performance; and (3) resource users’ perceptions of an MPA’s ecological performance were likely shaped by a variety of factors. Conservation practitioners should be aware that participatory MPA processes are complex and require careful planning if they are to contribute positively to marine conservation efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abesamis R, Alcala A, Russ G (2006) How much does the fishery at Apo Island benefit from spillover of adult fish from the adjacent marine reserve? Fishery Bulletin 104:360–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams B (2004) Public meetings and the democratic process. Public Administration Review 64:43–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal A, Gibson CC (1999) Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of community in natural resource conservation. World Development 27:629–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almany G, Berumen ML, Thorrold SR, Planes S, Jones GP (2007) Local replenishment of coral reef fish populations in a marine reserve. Science 316:742–744

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Babcock RC, Shears NT, Alcala AC, Barrett NS, Edgar GJ, Lafferty KD, McClanahan TR, Russ GR (2010) Decadal trends in marine reserves reveal differential rates of change in direct and indirect effects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107:18256–18261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beierle T, Cayford J (2002) Democracy in practice: public participation in environmental decisions. Resources for the Future, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard H (2002) Research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative approaches, 3rd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Chess C, Purcell K (1999) Public participation and the environment: do we know what works? Environmental Science and Technology 33:2685–2692

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Christie P (2005) Observed and perceived environmental impacts of marine protected areas in two Southeast Asia sites. Ocean & Coastal Management 48:252–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie P, Pollnac R, Oracion EG, Sabonsolin A, Diaz R, Pietri D (2009) Back to basics: an empirical study demonstrating the importance of local-level dynamics for the success of tropical marine ecosystem-based management. Coastal Management 37:349–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cinner J, Fuentes MMPB, Randiamahazo H (2009) Exploring social resilience in Madagascar’s marine protected areas. Ecology and Society 14:41–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Claudet J, Osenberg CW, Benedetti-Cecchi L, Domenici P, Garcia-Charton JA, Perez-Ruzafa A, Badalamenti F, Bayle-Sempere J, Brito A, Bulleri F, Culioli JM, Dimech M, Falcon JM, Guala I, Milazzo M, Sanchez-Meca J, Somerfield PJ, Stobart B, Vandeperre F, Valle C, Planes S (2008) Marine reserves: size and age do matter. Ecology Letters 11:481–489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote IM, Mosqueira I, Reynolds JD (2001) Effects of marine reserve characteristics on the protection of fish populations: a meta-analysis. Journal of Fish Biology 59(a):178–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creighton J (2005) The public participation handbook: making better decisions through citizen involvement. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosby N, Kelly J, Shaefer P (1986) Citizens panels: a new approach to citizen participation. Public Administration Review 46:170–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis A, Van Nouhuys M (1999) Landcare participation in Australia: the volunteer perspective. Sustainable Development 7:98–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton T (2004) An approach for integrating economic impact analysis into the evaluation of potential marine protected area sites. Journal of Environmental Management 70:333–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton T (2005) Beyond biogeography: a framework for involving the public in planning of U.S. marine protected areas. Conservation Biology 19:1392–1401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton T (2006) Exploring participants’ views of participatory coastal and marine resource management processes. Coastal Management 34:351–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daw TM, Robinson J, Graham NAJ (2011) Perceptions of trends in Seychelles artisanal trap fisheries: comparing catch monitoring, underwater visual census and fishers’ knowledge. Environmental Conservation 38:75–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dudley N (ed) (2008) Guidelines for applying protected area management categories. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiorino D (1990) Citizen participation and environmental risk: a survey of institutional mechanisms. Science, Technology, & Human Values 15:226–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelcich S, Edwards-Jones G, Kaiser M (2005) Importance of attitudinal differences among artisanal fishers toward co-management and conservation of marine resources. Conservation Biology 19:865–875

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geoghan T, Renard Y (2002) Beyond community involvement: lessons from the insular Caribbean. Parks 12:16–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Gjertsen H (2005) Can habitat protection lead to improvements in human well-being? Evidence from marine protected areas in the Philippines. World Development 33(2):199–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glass J (1979) Citizen participation in planning: the relationship between objectives and techniques. APA Journal 45:180–189

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez C, Jentoft S (2011) MPA in labor: securing the Pearl Cays of Nicaragua. Environmental Management 47:617–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halvorsen K (2003) Assessing the effects of public participation. Public Administration Review 63:535–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halvorsen K (2006) Critical next steps in research on public meetings and environmental decision making. Human Ecology Review 13:150–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargreaves-Allen V, Mourato S, Milner-Gulland EJ (2011) A global evaluation of coral reef management performance: are MPAs producing conservation and socio-economic improvements? Environmental Management 47:684–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heberlein T (1976) Some observations on alternative mechanisms for public involvement: the hearing, public opinion poll, the workshop and the quasi-experiment. Natural Resources Journal 16:197–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Heck NHN, Dearden P, McDonald A, Carver S (2011) Stakeholder opinions on the assessment of MPA effectiveness and their interests to participate at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Canada. Environmental Management 47(4):603–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland D, Quinn N (1987) Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jentoft S (2000) The community: a missing link of fisheries management. Marine Policy 24(1):53–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird PN (1983) Mental models: towards a cognitive science of language, inference, and consciousness. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Koontz TM, Thomas CW (2006) What do we know and need to know about the environmental outcomes of collaborative management? Public Administration Review 66:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson K, Lach D (2008) Participants and non-participants of place-based groups: an assessment of attitudes and implications for public participation in water resource management. Journal of Environmental Management 88:817–830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leach W, Sabatier P (2005) Are trust and social capital the keys to success? Partnerships in California and Washington. In: Sabatier P, Focht W, Lubell M, Trachtenberg Z, Vedlitz A, Matlock M (eds) Swimming upstream: collaborative approaches to watershed management. MIT, Cambridge, pp 233–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester SE, Halpern BS, Grorud-Colvert K, Lubchenco J, Ruttenber BI, Gaine SD, Airame S, Warner RW (2009) Biological effects within no-take marine reserves: a global synthesis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 384:33–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mandarano LA (2008) Evaluating collaborative environmental planning outputs and outcomes—restoring and protecting habitat and the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program. Journal of Planning Education and Research 27(4):456–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez TA, McMullin SL (2004) Factors affecting decisions to volunteer in non-governmental organizations. Environment and Behavior 36:112–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mascia MB (2004) Social dimensions of marine reserves. In: Sobel J, Dahlgren C (eds) Marine reserves: a guide to science, design, and use. Island Press, Washington, pp 164–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Mascia MB, Claus CA (2009) A property rights approach to understanding human displacement from protected areas: the case of marine protected areas. Conservation Biology 23:16–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCay B, Jentoft S (1996) From the bottom-up: participatory issues in fisheries management. Society & Natural Resources 9:237–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR (1999) Is there a future for coral reef parks in poor tropical countries? Coral Reefs 18:321–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McComas K (2001) Public meetings about local waste management problems: comparing participants to non-participants. Environmental Management 27:135–147

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McComas K (2003) Citizen satisfaction with public meetings used for risk communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research 31:164–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McComas K, Besley J, Trumbo C (2006) Why citizens do and do not attend public meetings about local cancer cluster investigations. The Policy Studies Journal 34:671–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Micheli F, Halpern B, Botsford L, Warner R (2004) Trajectories and correlates of community change in no-take marine reserves. Ecological Applications 14:1709–1723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikalsen K, Jentoft S (2001) From user-groups to stakeholders? The public interest in fisheries management. Marine Policy 25:281–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammed P, Shepherd C (eds) (1999) Gender in Caribbean development. Papers presented at the inaugural seminar of the University of the West Indies, women and development studies project. Canoe Press, Kingston

  • Mora C, Abdrefouet S, Costello M, Kranenburg C, Rollo A, Veron J, Gaston K, Myers R (2006) Coral reefs and the global network of marine protected areas. Science 312:1750–1751

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (2008) Public participation in environmental assessment and decision making. In: Dietz T, Stern P (eds) Panel on public participation in environmental assessment and decision making. The National Academies Press, Washington

  • Paolisso M (2002) Blue crabs and controversy on the Chesapeake Bay: a cultural model for understanding waterman’s reasoning about blue crab management. Human Organization 61:226–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto da Silva P (2004) From common property to co-management: lessons from Brazil’s first maritime extractive reserve. Marine Policy 28:419–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollnac R, Seara T (2011) Factors influencing success of marine protected areas in the Visayas, Philippines as related to increasing protected area coverage. Environmental Management 47:584–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollnac R, Crawford B, Gorospe M (2001) Discovering factors that influence the success of community-based marine protected areas in the Visayas, Philippines. Ocean & Coastal Management 44:683–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollnac R, Christie P, Cinner JE, Dalton T, Daw TM, Forrester GE, Graham NAJ, McClanahan T (2010) Marine reserves as linked social-ecological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(43):18262–18265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy R, Watson L, Parks J, Cid G (2005) How is your MPA doing? A methodology for evaluating the management effectiveness of marine protected areas. Ocean & Coastal Management 48:485–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymundo LJ, Halforda AR, Maypab AP, Kerra AM (2009) Functionally diverse reef-fish communities ameliorate coral disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106(40):17067–17070

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reed M (2008) Stakeholder participation for environmental management: a literature review. Biological Conservation 141:2417–2431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renn O, Webler T, Wiedemann P (1995) Fairness and competence in citizen participation: evaluating models for environmental discourse. Kluwer, Boston

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe G, Frewer L (2000) Public participation methods: a framework for evaluation. Science, Technology, & Human Values 25:3–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe G, Frewer L (2005) A typology of public engagement mechanisms. Science, Technology, & Human Values 30:251–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe G, Horlick-Jones T, Walls J, Poortinga W, Pidgeon NF (2008) Analysis of a normative framework for evaluating public engagement exercises: reliability, validity and limitations. Public Understanding of Science 17:419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russ G, Alcala A (1999) Management histories of Sumilon and Apo marine reserves, Philippines, and their influence on national resource policy. Coral Reefs 18:307–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe A, Bavinck M, Coulthard S (2011) Tracking the debate around marine protected areas: key issues and the BEG framework. Environmental Management 47:546–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuler S, Webler T (2010) How preferences for public participation are linked to perceptions of the context, preferences for outcomes, and individual characteristics. Environmental Management 46:254–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler T (2006) Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. Annual Review of Psychology 57:375–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viteri C, Chavez C (2007) Legitimacy, local participation, and compliance in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Ocean & Coastal Management 50:253–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walmsley SF, White AT (2003) Influence of social, management and enforcement factors on the long-term ecological effects of marine sanctuaries. Environmental Conservation 30:388–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webler T, Tuler S (2002) Unlocking the puzzle of public participation. The Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 22:179–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank F. Arnett, J. Helyer, D. Kotowicz, K. Mulvaney, K. Palmigiano, K. Pennoyer, J. Royster, S. Smith, L. Straker, A. Sulock, A. Venti, A. Westwood, and Dr. J. Voss for assisting with data collection, and local hosts and field assistants for their hospitality and assistance. This research was supported by the US National Science Foundation (HSD 0527304).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    Tracey Dalton & Richard Pollnac

  2. Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA

    Graham Forrester

Authors
  1. Tracey Dalton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Graham Forrester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Richard Pollnac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tracey Dalton.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dalton, T., Forrester, G. & Pollnac, R. Participation, Process Quality, and Performance of Marine Protected Areas in the Wider Caribbean. Environmental Management 49, 1224–1237 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9855-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9855-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation