Whilst there is currently much guidance available on how to manage marine protected areas (MPAs), there is less guidance available that considers MPAs from a governance perspective. This perspective poses a key question – how do we combine top-down, bottom-up and market approaches for reaching and implementing decisions in order to achieve effective and equitable MPAs? It is widely accepted that all three approaches are important, but how might they be combined in different MPA contexts?
The need to address this question has led to a new partnership amongst a group of governance experts and MPA planners and managers to initiate development of guidance on governing MPAs in seas under national jurisdiction. Initial steps have included an international workshop supported by UNEP bringing together 20 MPA case studies from different regions around the world and different settings, and subjecting them to detailed analysis employing a governance analysis framework developed by Dr. Peter Jones, plus subsequent analysis of the findings and preparation of this report. The MPA case study analyses were focused on ‘deconstructing’ the complexities of MPA governance by employing 40 incentives from five categories. This technical report describes the findings of this research and is intended to provide a foundation for further case studies and discussion, employing the governance analysis framework, to provide a preliminary resource for MPA managers to consider how different incentives might be combined to support the governance of their MPA. It also resonates strongly with current debates in fisheries management about the role of incentives.