Beyond marine paper parks? Regulation theory to assess and address environmental non‐compliance

Abstract

ABSTRACT1. Many marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world are 'paper parks'. A key factor contributing to their ineffectiveness is non-compliance with the rules in place.2. This paper contributes to the existing academic discussion on 'paper parks' by drawing on critical regulation scholarship to develop a theoretical framework to assess and address compliance gaps in MPAs.3. The theoretical insights are then explored using a case study of the second largest Italian MPA (the 'Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre'), employing a multidisciplinary perspective built on both biological and socio-legal expertise.4. The biological study consists of a review including existing unpublished data on biological resources in the MPA coupled with new analyses on the effects of sea urchin harvesting restrictions. The socio-legal research consists of the analysis of primary qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders at the local and regional level in 2014, followed by two workshops (one with stakeholders and one with the general public) in 2015 to discuss the research findings collectively.5. The results show that the Sinis MPA is not achieving its conservation goals, primarily because of actors' noncompliance with the rules. The interviews with key stakeholders reveal a number of interlinked social, normative and calculative motivations at the basis of non-compliance. Policy solutions are then offered.6. This study offers a novel analysis on 'paper parks' that may be applicable to other MPAs experiencing similar compliance issues.

The park never born: Outcome of a quarter of a century of inaction on the sea‐floor integrity of a proposed but not established Marine Protected Area

“…The Liguria region typically entrusts local municipalities with SCI management. Municipalities should be best placed to identify all the key actors, institutions, and factors necessary to attain full environmental compliance (Pieraccini, Coppa, & De Lucia, ) and good environmental status (Borja et al, ), even without the establishment of an MPA.…”

Seabed mapping in the Pelagie Islands marine protected area (Sicily Channel, southern Mediterranean) using Remote Sensing Object Based Image Analysis (RSOBIA)

“…The European Framework and national laws award protect those particular areas by imposing measures to monitor the environmental status of such areas (e.g. Jameson et al 2002;Pomeroy et al 2005;Guidetti et al 2008;Pieraccini et al 2016).…”

The exploitation of limpets in a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area: assessing the effectiveness of protection in the intertidal zone

“…Highly vulnerable species are more likely to benefit from the establishment of protected areas, as demonstrated by case studies on large limpets that are often present within MPAs and other protected areas (Fenberg & Roy, 2012;Espinosa et al, 2014;García-Gómez et al, 2015). The Sinis MPA was established more than fifteen years ago in an area where human pressure on marine resources was intense (Casola et al, 2014;Pieraccini et al, 2017) and where the gathering of intertidal organisms was frequently performed as a recreational activity by local communities (Coppa et al, 2012). Despite the fact that the MPA hosts one of the last populations of P. ferruginea in the Mediterranean (Coppa et al, 2012), a recent study has highlighted that the protection measures implemented have not been very effective as regards the conservation of this species, whose population is actually in decline .…”

“…Previous biological and socio-legal studies conducted in the area highlighted that the Sinis MPA has a low effectiveness for the conservation of marine species. Different factors contribute to hinder its effectiveness, such as the diffuse lack of compliance with management rules (Pieraccini et al, 2017), the lack of adequate enforcement (Guidetti et al, 2008) and the high professional and recreational fishing pressure (Casola et al, 2014). Low protection effects were indeed observed for coastal fish assemblages and for commercial benthic species (Pieraccini et al, 2017).…”