Frontiers in Marine Science (Jun 2022)

Setting Performance Indicators for Coastal Marine Protected Areas: An Expert-Based Methodology

  • Mariana Cardoso-Andrade,
  • Mariana Cardoso-Andrade,
  • Mariana Cardoso-Andrade,
  • Henrique Queiroga,
  • Henrique Queiroga,
  • Mafalda Rangel,
  • Inês Sousa,
  • Adela Belackova,
  • Luís Bentes,
  • Frederico Oliveira,
  • Pedro Monteiro,
  • Nuno Sales Henriques,
  • Carlos M. L. Afonso,
  • Ana F. Silva,
  • Bernardo R. Quintella,
  • Bernardo R. Quintella,
  • José L. Costa,
  • José L. Costa,
  • Miguel P. Pais,
  • Miguel P. Pais,
  • Sofia Henriques,
  • Sofia Henriques,
  • Marisa I. Batista,
  • Marisa I. Batista,
  • Gustavo Franco,
  • Emanuel J. Gonçalves,
  • Miguel Henriques,
  • Teresa Leonardo,
  • Paula Coelho,
  • Robert Comas-González,
  • Laura P. Fernández,
  • Carla Quiles-Pons,
  • André Costa,
  • Cristina Espírito-Santo,
  • João J. Castro,
  • João J. Castro,
  • Francisco Arenas,
  • Sandra Ramos,
  • Vasco Ferreira,
  • Jorge M. S. Gonçalves,
  • Bárbara Horta e Costa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.848039
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

Read online

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators (i.e., environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicators.

Keywords