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Presented here are examples of management plans for various kinds of protected areas from strict nature reserves to local village fisheries management plans.  In addition, there is a discussion on the reasons for management plans and guidelines for writing a management plan.

Nature Conservation Index

Species do not exist in isolation; they are interconnected. A key element to addressing environmental problems, such as improving water quality and renewing biodiversity, involves addressing nature conservation at its core.

03. Guidelines for Management Planning of Protected Areas

Lee, T. and Middleton, J. 2003. Guidelines for Management Planning of Protected Areas.  IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

04. Some Management Plans are Lengthy

How thick should a management plan be?  To be sure, there are some thick plans out there heavy enough for use as a door stop.  Seriously, a management plan is as thick as it needs to be based upon near term (10-15 years) management needs, legal and regulatory complexity, the environment

06. Some Management Plans are for a Specific Purpose: Samoa's Village Fisheries Management Plans

King, M., Passfield, K. and Ropeti, R.  2001. Management of Village Fisheries: Samoa’s Community-based Management Strategy.

07. Fisheries Management By Communities: A Manual on Promoting the Management of Subsistence Fisheries by Pacific Island Communities

King, M, Lambeth, L. 2000. Fisheries Management By Communities: A Manual on Promoting the Management of Subsistence Fisheries by Pacific Island Communities. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia.

21 useful tips to save on energy bills during coronavirus

If you’re one of the many people working from home because of coronavirus, you may have noticed your energy bills creeping up. But don’t worry – you can cut the cost of your gas and electric by becoming more energy efficient. Find out how with our top energy-saving tips.

A Comparative Analysis of Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) Evaluation Tools for the Pacific Islands Region

This report was commissioned by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to raise awareness and understanding of the tools available to evaluate Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME); to provide case studies from the region on PAME assessment; and to help inf

A sustainable ocean economy in 2030: Opportunities and challenges

In this report the World Ocean Initiative assesses the challenges facing key sectors in the ocean economy, including seafood, shipping, tourism and renewable energy.

Achieving the Potential of Locally Managed Marine Areas in the South Pacific

Govan H. 2009. SPC Traditional Marine Resource Management and Knowledge Information Bulletin #25

Advancing Sustainable Development and Protected Area Management with Social Media‐Based Tourism Data

Sustainable tourism involves increasingly attracting visitors while preserving the natural capital of a destination for future generations.

Agriculture and conservation

In 2021, IUCN launched the IUCN Flagship Report Series, to help demonstrate the importance of conserving nature for human well-being and all life on Earth. This report, the second in the series, focuses on agriculture and nature.

An international assessment of the barriers influencing the effectiveness of island ecosystem management

Island ecosystems are disproportionally impacted by biodiversity loss and as such their effective management is critical to global conservation efforts.

An Introduction to the MPA guide

The Marine Protected Area (MPA) Guide refines existing language and captures a shared vision to describe MPAs and the conservation outcomes they provide. The Guide is the work of many hundreds of stakeholders from around the world.

Assessing Protected Area Management Effectiveness

The Nature Conservancy. Assessing Protected Area Management Effectiveness. Convention on Biological Diversity and World Wildlife Fund for Nature Conservation. 2008

Assessing the quantity and quality of marine protected areas in the Mariana Islands

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are ubiquitous in global ocean conservation and play a pivotal role in achieving local, national, and regional area-based conservation targets.

Assessment of management effectiveness for PNG's protected areas 2017

This is the final report prepared by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) for submission to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Papua New Guinea Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) in relation to the 2016–17 assessment of t

BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY (BAT) AND BEST ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICE (BEP) FOR MITIGATING THREE NOISE SOURCES: SHIPPING, SEISMIC AIRGUN SURVEYS, AND PILE DRIVING

At least 150 marine species have shown impacts from ocean noise pollution, but it has been difficult to specify the exact scenarios where ecosystem and population consequences from underwater noise will occur. Therefore, managing this threat requires a precautionary approach.

Best Practice in Delivering the 30x30 Target

This guidance document identifies the best options for successful delivery of draft Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There is good evidence that this will radically increase the success of biodiversity conservation.

Biodiversity and Protected Areas

Protected areas are key to biodiversity conservation. While the value of protected areas is generally undisputed, challenges remain.

Biodiversity needs every tool in the box: use OECMs

Global support is growing for the 30 × 30 movement — a goal to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. In May, the G7 group of wealthy nations endorsed the commitment to this target that had been made by more than 50 countries in January.

Capacity Development for Protected and Other Conserved Areas in the Pacific Islands Region

This document is an important tool for promoting action. It highlights the importance of culturally‐responsive capacity development, with Pacific Islanders defining the most appropriate approaches to be used.

Capacity for Conservation

Capacity for Conservation relates to organisational ability to deliver effective protected area management.  Operated by several conservation organisations, Capacity for Conservation believes that building strong conservation organisations is one of the most effective means of making a lasti

CITES Sharks and Rays - Implementing and Enforcing Listings: Volume II - Processed Carcass ID

This guide forms part of a three-volume series of identification guides: Volume I – Full Carcass ID, Volume II – Processed Carcass ID [this guide], and Volume III – Dried Product ID.

Climate Change, Coral Reef Ecosystems, and Management Options for Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) provide place-based management of marine ecosystems through various degrees and types of protective actions.

Closing Window of Opportunity: Mapping Threats to Important Areas for Conservation in the Pantropics

The global race to safeguard irreplaceable ecosystems is nearing a critical threshold, and the window to protect vital areas for climate stability, biodiversity, and human wellbeing is rapidly closing.

Community Biological Monitoring Training Video

Community Biological Monitoring Training Video. University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network (FLMMA). 2006. Suva, Fiji.

Community-based Biological Monitoring Training Guide (Applied at FLMMA Project Sites)

Tawake, A., Meo, S., Cakacaka, A. and Aalbersberg, W.G.L. 2004. Institute of Applied Sciences,  USP

Community-Based Management

Community Based Management resources

Community-Based Management through Special Management Areas

Community Information Pamphlet; unkown date. Department of Fisheries, Tonga

Community-Based Marine Resource Management in Solomon Islands: A Facilitator’s Guide

WorldFish. 2013.  CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems. Penang, Malaysia. 

Convention on Biological Diversity – Protected Areas Management Effectiveness

Convention on Biological Diversity – Protected Areas Management Effectiveness

Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action

Galloway, S.B., Bruckner, A.W. and Woodley, C.M. (eds.).  Coral Health and Disease in the Pacific: Vision for Action. 2009. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 97 and CRCP 7.

COVID-19 and protected areas: Impacts, conflicts, and possible management solutions

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, management authorities of numerous Protected Areas (PAs) had to discourage visitors from accessing them in order to reduce the virus transmission rate and protect local communities.

COVID-ERA POLICIES AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLANS: ARE GOVERNMENTS BUILDING BACK BETTER FOR PROTECTED AND CONSERVED AREAS?

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on conservation policies and practice at multiple scales, including protected and conserved areas (PCAs). There is a need to understand the implications for PCAs of recent actions, enacted or promoted in the wake of COVID-19.

Cultural ecosystem services and the conservation challenges for an Indigenous people's aquatic protected area practice.

Globally, protected areas associated with sacred sites and cemeteries are an emerging area of research. However, they are biased toward terrestrial systems.

Decent Work in Nature-Based Solutions 2024: Unlocking jobs through investment in skills and nature-based infrastructure

This report – the second in a series of International Labour Organization (ILO)–United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)–International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publications on decent work in nature-based solutions (NbS) – aims to improve the understanding of the role of NbS

Defining ‘science-based targets’

Setting targets for addressing major planetary concerns is an essential prerequisite for concerted global action (both inside and outside multilateral environmental agreements) and is necessarily a societal and political process, requiring negotiation and convergence among oftenconflicting intere

Delimiting Surveys for Invasive Ants

Pacific Invasives Network. Delimiting Surveys for Invasive Ants. 2013. Auckland, New Zealand.

Designing and managing protected and conserved areas to support inland water ecosystems and biodiversity

Inland waters – such as rivers, lakes and other wetlands – are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. They are also the most threatened; almost one in three species is at risk of extinction and monitored populations of freshwater species have declined by 85% since 1970.

eDNA metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool for marine protected areas

Monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness.

Enhanced regional connectivity between western North American national parks will increase persistence of mammal species diversity

Many protected areas worldwide increasingly resemble habitat isolates embedded in human-modifed landscapes. However, establishing linkages among protected areas could signifcantly reduce speciesloss rates.

Evaluating the social and ecological effectiveness of partially protected marine areas

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a primary tool for the stewardship, conservation, and restoration of marine ecosystems, yet 69% of global MPAs are only partially protected (i.e., are open to some form of fishing).

Evidence that spillover from Marine Protected Areas benefits the spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery in southern California

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services. Some
MPAs are also established to benefit fisheries through increased egg and larval production, or the