Best Practices and Procedures for Operationalizing Marine Protected Area Network Monitoring: Synthesis of Global Insights and Recommendations for British Columbia’s Northern Shelf Bioregion.

Abstract

Marine protected area networks (MPANs)—collections of marine protected areas designed to operate synergistically within a region—offer opportunities for habitat protection at large spatial scales while still allowing for diverse human activities. As communities and countries around the world forge ahead towards the establishment of MPANs to meet both local conservation objectives and global commitments to conservation targets, existing and new MPANs stand to benefit from the lessons learned by early adopters that are now undergoing retrospective reviews and evaluations. Drawing from five global MPAN case studies, review of reports and peerreviewed literature, and expert interviews, this report presents global lessons and suggested best practices for operationalizing MPAN monitoring. Part one of this report synthesizes emerging lessons for MPAN monitoring across a number of key monitoring topics. A companion Supplementary Report provides detailed case studies along with an in-depth literature review that supports the synthesized global best practices for MPAN monitoring. Part two of this report places these global insights and best practices within the unique context of the Northern Shelf Bioregion (NSB) in British Columbia, Canada, where a network of MPAs is in the process of being implemented. The implementation of this network presents an important opportunity to apply the insights gained from existing best practices in MPAN monitoring from around the world to design an effective MPAN monitoring plan for the NSB. As such, this report offers a set of 31 recommendations for the development and implementation of a MPAN monitoring program for the NSB distributed across three core themes: 1) Early stages of implementation, 2) Data collection and management, 3) Analysis and Reporting, with additional detail on each recommendation in the body of this report. Many of these recommendations are also relevant and applicable to other temperate regions that are in the process of designing or evaluating monitoring programs for a given MPAN. Through careful consideration of the lessons and recommendations outlined in this report, partners working towards monitoring and management strategies in the Northern Shelf Bioregion and other emerging MPANs have the opportunity to set new precedents for integrated, collaborative, and rigorous social-ecological monitoring, evaluation, and management of these networks moving forward.