#MPAday - a global celebration

?Once a Marine Protected Area (MPA) is designated, it is essential to understand whether the management is working and achieving what you want it to.?

To mark #MPAday (1 August) we’re sharing examples of the work MMO’s Global Marine Team is carrying out to support international partners in their MPA management effectiveness evaluations.

These can help managers track progress, address issues and adapt management to better protect critical coastal and marine ecosystems and livelihoods.

To support the Government of Belize, MMO colleagues worked with in-country partners and JNCC on a collaborative report ?identifying recommendations for management effectiveness evaluations across a large network of MPAs. Building on this work, the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) team is now supporting Belize’s site-level evaluations and IUCN green listing efforts.

In the Maldives, we used the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT-4) to look at how three different marine sites are being managed.

Our recommendations included the development of site-specific management plans and associated research and monitoring plans. In addition, improved engagement with local communities to help raise awareness and enable them to be more involved in MPA management. Finally, consideration of new technologies will help address challenges in enforcement capabilities.

MMO, JNCC and the wider OCPP team are now working with the Government of Maldives to take forward some of these recommendations.

We also used METT-4 with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) as part of the Blue Belt Programme (pictured above). This highlighted several recommendations applicable across three priority protected sites, which we?helped summarise in stakeholder reports.

We are now working with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government to take some of these recommendations forward as part of an adaptive management approach and use the learning to assist in the development of their National Protected Area Management Framework.