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Limited uptake of protected area evaluation systems among managers and decision-makers in Spain and the Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2015

D. RODRÍGUEZ-RODRÍGUEZ*
Affiliation:
Centre for Marine and Coastal Policy Research, Marine Institute, Plymouth University, Marine Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
J. MARTÍNEZ-VEGA
Affiliation:
Instituto de Economía, Geografía y Demografía, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IEGD-CSIC), C/Albasanz 26–28, Madrid 28037, Spain
M. TEMPESTA
Affiliation:
WWF-Italia, Area Marina Protetta di Miramare, Viale Miramare 349, 34151 Grignano, TS, Italy
M. M. OTERO-VILLANUEVA
Affiliation:
IUCN-Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, C/Marie Curie nº 22 (PTA), 29590 Campanillas. Málaga, Spain
*
*Correspondence: David Rodríguez-Rodríguez Tel: +44 1752 584899 e-mail: david.rodriguez-rodriguez@plymouth.ac.uk, davidrgrg@yahoo.es

Summary

Protected areas are regarded as the main strategy to halt biodiversity loss; however, protected area effectiveness evaluations remain scarce and mostly rely on limited scientific evidence. Protected area managers from two case studies in the Mediterranean basin biodiversity hotspot (networks of Spanish terrestrial protected areas and individual Mediterranean marine protected areas) were surveyed to assess the use of two protected area evaluation systems: the ‘System for the Integrated Assessment of Protected Areas’ (SIAPA) and the ‘System for Quick Evaluation of Management in Mediterranean MPAs’ using the ‘Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development’ framework. A second survey in Spain ascertained the degree of implementation of protected area evaluation systems and the institutional interest in implementing such systems. The main weaknesses attributable to the systems presented were limited salience (for the SIAPA) and legitimacy in terms of costs (for the System for Quick Evaluation of Management in Mediterranean MPAs). However, the main reasons for the limited uptake of the evaluation systems presented were not attributable to the systems themselves, but to management or institutional limitations: the lack of basic data for and weak institutional interest in evaluation in Spain, and the scarce resources available for evaluation in the case of some Mediterranean marine protected areas.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2015 

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