The need to track management effectiveness has been recognized in global biodiversity policy commitments. In 2021, the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) released a new Global Biodiversity Framework. The Framework outlines targets that include management effectiveness:
Target 3: “Ensure that at least 30 percent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.”
Countries that are signatories of the CBD must report on progress toward these targets. Historically, countries focused on % area under protection. However, if sites are not achieving their conservation and socio-economic objectives, then reporting the % of a country’s marine waters designated as protected does not reflect real progress. In response, discussions are underway to develop global indicators that measure the extent to which MPAs are achieving conservation, socio-economic, and cultural outcomes and contributing to global biodiversity protection.
In 2006, the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) developed a framework for assessing management effectiveness of protected areas. The 6 stages of the WCPA Framework include: :
reviewing context and establishing a vision for site management (within the context of existing status and pressures),
progresses through planning and
allocation of resources (inputs), and
as a result of management actions (process),
eventually produces goods and services (outputs),
that result in impacts or outcomes
This framework has been used to design the majority of tools developed to assess protected area management effectiveness.
The following Theory of Change (ToC) was developed to demonstrate key components that influence the success of an MPA/OECM, using the IUCN WCPA Framework for management effectiveness (Hockings et. al, 2006).
A ToC can be helpful to provide an overview of key components and associated indicators to track throughout the management cycle that are believed by the planning team will lead to achievement of the site objectives. While a ToC is not essential, it can be a useful tool that can help you consider how you measure your effectiveness/success from the beginning and over time.
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