Designing a resilient network of marine protected areas for Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The Nature Conservancy takes a strategic and systematic approach to conservation planning. Ecoregional assessments are used to set goals and identify geographical priorities, and Conservation Action Planning is used to develop strategic plans for conservation areas. This study demonstrates how these planning processes were applied at the seascape scale based on a case study of Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. Conservation Action Planning was used to identify key threats and strategies, and systematic conservation planning (similar to that used for ecoregional assessments) was used to design a network of marine protected areas to be resilient to the threat of climate change. The design was based on an assessment of biodiversity and socioeconomic values, and identified 14 Areas of Interest that meet specific conservation goals. A detailed community-based planning process is now underway with local communities that own and manage these areas to refine and implement the marine protected area network.

Larval fish dispersal in a coral-reef seascape

“…Seven of the eight sites included fringing reefs associated with small islands, where the two focal species were particularly abundant. These sites were all designated as marine protected areas in the management plan for Kimbe Bay designed by the Nature Conservancy 30 and are managed on a local scale by the traditional reef owners in nearby villages. The other location (Walindi reefs) was a small group of fringing reefs near the Mahonia Na Dari Research and Conservation Center, some of which have been designated under PNG fisheries legislation as no-take marine reserves 30 .…”

Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning

“…The distribution of planning hotspots could be partially explained by the existence of legal mandates to revise or designate MPAs (e.g., GBR, Australia: Fernandes et al, 2005; California State Waters, USA: Mediterranean Sea: Micheli et al, 2013), presence of international conservation NGOs (e.g., Papua New Guinea: Green et al, 2009;Fiji: Weeks and Jupiter, 2013), international commitments to undertake planning in biodiversity hotspots (e.g., Coral Triangle Initiative: coraltriangleinitiative.org), availability of information from previous planning exercises or research, and their geographic proximity to countries with organizations with expertise in SCP (Figure 3a). Fully understanding the factors underlying the observed patterns would require a comprehensive analysis (including gray literature) and input from planners, which would be facilitated by the consolidation of a global SCP database.…”

“…Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape), Eastern Philippines, Papua, Bismarck Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Fiji Islands, Northern California, and the Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Coast and Shelf. In some instances, planning hotspots match the implementation of actions, such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park re-zoning in Australia (Fernandes et al, 2005), the MPA network in California's State waters implemented under the Marine Life Protection Act in the United States , the community-based re-design of MPAs in the Kubulau District in Fiji (Weeks and Jupiter, 2013), and an ongoing process to design and implement an MPA network in Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea (Green et al, 2009). Other planning hotspots, such as the Mediterranean (Micheli et al, 2013) and the Gulf of California (Álvarez-Romero et al, 2013) illustrate cases where information and outputs from previous planning exercises have been used in subsequent planning initiatives (e.g., Álvarez-Romero et al, 2018).…”

“…In particular, the number of studies added to the marine SCP literature has increased significantly over the past 10 years (Ban and Klein, 2009;Kukkala and Moilanen, 2013;Magris et al, 2014), including numerous exercises aiming to inform the creation of new MPAs (e.g., Álvarez-Romero et al, 2018;Green et al, 2009;Weeks and Jupiter, 2013). This accelerating output of marine SCP methods and applications demands an updated analysis of the literature, as well as reflection on the need for continuous and systematic documentation of SCP applications in general.…”

From measuring outcomes to providing inputs: Governance, management, and local development for more effective marine protected areas

“…To be effective in achieving their potential, MPAs should not be "islands of protection" but nested within Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) or Ecoystem-Based Management (EBM) regimes [4,11,[190][191][192] and/or broader networks of MPAs [51,143,193]. Both ICZM and EBM imply the incorporation of social, economic, cultural, political, and environmental considerations or values at the level of the broader land and seascape into management.…”