Skip to main content

Green, A., White, A., Kilarski, S. (Eds.) 2013. Designing Marine Protected Area Networks to Achieve Fisheries Biodiversity and Climate Change Objectives in Tropical Ecosystems: A Practitioners Guide. The Nature Conservancy, and the USAID Coral Triangle Support Partnership, Cebu City, Philippines.

This guide provides a set of biophysical principles to help practitioners design networks of marine protected areas to achieve fisheries sustainability, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. The document refers to and draws upon much of the latest scientific evidence concerning fisheries and protected area design.

The 15 design principles are straightforward and clearly explained (e.g. principle 1: prohibit destructive activities throughout the management area). Despite the fact that the guidelines were developed with the Coral Triangle as the focal point, they are applicable to tropical marine ecosystems worldwide and a recent training was held for the Two Samoas (American Samoa and Independent Samoa) based around these guidelines.

The scientific basis for this guide is provided in a detailed technical report which can be found as the next reference.