Once the reserves are created, facilitators will work with local government to officially recognize the reserves. After paperwork is finalized, the reserves will need to be monitored and surveilled to avoid illegal fishing, users will need to gather ecological data over time to track progress, and the facilitators need to help implement other viable economic strategies and ensure their success. If feasible, reserves serving as a network should be implemented at relatively the same time to contribute to the success of the network.
In this first phase, facilitators of no-take marine reserves should aim to establish trusted relationships with the local communities and resources users that would likely be impacted from the implementation of a marine reserve. This entails the facilitator assessing the social, financial, and leadership structures to determine what the community needs to motivate creating a reserve. Concurrently, facilitators should gather any necessary baseline data to better populate tools that will help to create the reserve.
Decision Tree
Decision Tree
For the last phase, facilitators should help to evaluate reserve success and appropriately adapt their strategies to address community or scientific needs. These adaptations can include changes to the governance, ecological, social, and financial components and structures in place. It is important that facilitators provide opportunities/forums for communities to exchange management strategies to learn from successes and challenges.
Learning & Enhancement Phase
Once reports and analysis are available, the core group can adapt management strategies to ensure continual success of the marine reserve. Adaptive management promotes a cyclical management system through the testing of previous assumptions made during the initial marine reserve design — learning by doing.
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Assess the results (evaluation team and core group) to revise and improve current management practices
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Analyze all ecological, economic, and social goals and whether they have been met
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Determine if current size and placement are achieving initial goals and projections; if not, identify the reasons why (monitoring and surveillance issues, enforcement issues, climate change, illegal fishing, natural disaster, etc.)
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Adapt to political, social, governance, and economic shifts within the country
Toolkit: MAREA
Key Questions:
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Did you re-evaluate design and implementation strategies to gain more benefits from the marine reserve?
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Did you use a tool to determine the status of the marine reserve?
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Did you determine the status of your target species? Is a marine reserve still the best management tool to use?
Collaborative learning platforms to share lessons learned and successes. It involves assessing effectiveness of governance approach and adapting where needed.
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Use participatory process to identify successes and challenges
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Create a learning attitude (note: still broad term)
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Revise and update adaptive management plan (note: need to define in manual)
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Use capacity building to increase knowledge and conduct diligence on role, responsibilities and power due to governance system
Toolkit: MPA Effectiveness and Assessment Tool (MEAT); Marine Reserve Application Tool (MAREA)
Key Questions:
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Have you included every member of core group and other parties involved from Phase 1 in the learning and enhancement phase?
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Have you developed a community of learning by sharing and exchanging experiences, challenges and successes?
In order to develop resilient social-ecological systems, it is important that communities adapt to changes or to current situations. This can be achieved by evaluating what has already been done and proposing changes in order to improve what´s in place. Stakeholders and groups involved in marine reserves creation must come together via collaborative learning platforms to share lessons learned and successes.
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Develop a potential Adaptive Management Plan. This means to have a road map on how the community is going to evaluate their progress and achievement and how they can change what’s not working.
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Also develop a platform or a mechanism to share knowledge with other communities in order to see what has worked and what has not work and why.
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Possible ways to do this is through web-based platform (if available); meetings or workshops.
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Toolkit: MAREA
Key Questions:
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Have you re-asses the community’s motivations and needs?
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Did you evaluate the process and the perception of the community towards the marine reserve?
We include here a review of some suggested questions to be addressed during the evaluation process, in regards to every economic strategy implemented.
