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  • 07 Apr 2014

The total area of coral reef habitats in the Coral Triangle that are legally protected has reached nearly 8,000 square kilometers—just shy of the CTI-CFF target for 2020—but only a small fraction of these reef areas is truly effectively managed, according to a recent special edition of the journal Coastal Management (external link).

These findings are based on what the report’s authors describe as the most current set of marine protected area (MPA) data in the CT Atlas (external link) at the time of writing. The CT Atlas is a web-based database and information system developed to improve the use of spatial data in coastal and marine management in the Coral Triangle, compiling some of the most consistent and accurate counts and areas of MPAs in the region.

The 1,972 MPAs recorded in the Atlas cover at least 200,881 square kilometers of marine area, of which 7,757 square kilometers are coral reef habitats—representing about 17.8% of the total reef area in the region. “At face value, this suggests that the regional target for critical habitat under some form of marine protected area (20%) is nearly achieved. The reality is that this figure is misleading, since, for example, only about 1% of the Philippines’ reef area is under truly effective protection,” the report notes.

Bringing together, for the first time, a consistent set of current data on MPAs for the six Coral Triangle countries, the report reviews progress toward establishing MPAs in these countries. It examines coverage of critical habitats, areas under effective management, and ways to improve management.

“The gap between nearly achieving 20% and only 1% of area effectively protected lies in the lack of effectively managed MPAs,” the report explains. “Another cause of this gap is the range of forms and sizes of MPAs in the region, many of which do not achieve their management objectives, and the small area covered by no-take marine reserves, for which the regional target is 10% of critical habitat.”

The authors offer three recommendations for improving and expanding MPAs in the region:

  1. Improving MPA management effectiveness – Planning, implementation, and management of MPAs, regardless of their level or type, must consider the human communities and institutions that are usually the default decision-makers for resource use and protection, and must be sensitive to social, cultural, and environmental contexts.
  2. Scaling up to resilient networks of MPAs – Networks improve habitat resilience by spreading risk from localized disasters, management failures, or other hazards, and help ensure the long-term sustainability of populations better than single sites. In the Coral Triangle, economic, social, and political constraints make it challenging to create one single large reserve to support viable populations of all species. Establishing networks of several small-to-moderately sized reserves (0.5 km to several kilometers across) offers a practical solution, reducing socioeconomic impacts without compromising conservation and fisheries benefits.
  3. Filling ecological gaps and increasing resilience and coverage of protection – There is a need to systematically assess gaps in coverage using all existing data and state-of-the-art analysis tools (e.g., MARXAN and other spatial analysis tools) to determine what needs protection and where.

The publisher is offering free access to the full report until April 30, 2014. To access it, click here (external link).