MPA Lessons Learned Report Now Available Online

The final report on a review of six processes that designated marine protected areas can be downloaded from the National MPA Center’s site.

The report, Lessons Learned from Recent Marine Protected Area Designations in the United States, summarizes strengths and weaknesses and provides recommendations for future MPA planning efforts. NFCC led the team of researchers and writers that produced a report on lessons learned from the California Marine Life Protection Act and designations in the San Juan Islands, Channel Islands, Delaware Bay, Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico.

The investigation was the second part of a two-phase project. The first phase documented five recent MPA establishment processes (excluding MLPA) through objective compilation of specific process-related elements in each of the case studies. The MPA Process Review Report is also available on the site and is aimed at readers who want to know more about the structure and events of recent designations. The Center also produced a guide on public participation.

NFCC’s work on the second phase of the project included interviews with stakeholders to get their perceptions of what worked and what did not in each designation process. It provides an analytical review of the cases, distilling the most workable strategies and tactics for process managers.