Abstract

The Woburn/Clarke’s Court Bay Marine Protected Area (WCCB MPA) legally declared in 2001 was chosen as a site for MPA designation solely due to fisheries priority since the area is an important nursery area for many species given its extensive mangroves. The MPA was not actively managed and by the end of the 2000s, had changed into a multi-use area with emphasis placed on resource utilisation. The WCCB MPA is demonstrative of both competition and conflicts among a variety of stakeholders and has attracted considerable attention from environmentalists and developers. With the upcoming launch of the MPA set for early in 2013, management planning is progressing. A management plan has been prepared and budget for the first year of implementation has been developed. Other supporting initiatives such as socio-economic studies are considered supplemental to the plan. Baseline socio-economic data exist but need to be increased to guide management planning for the area. As such, through a sub-grant from the CERMES-implemented, Socio-economic Monitoring by Caribbean Challenge MPA Managers project (CC SocMon), monitoring to determine perceived changes and impacts of stakeholders, particularly those related to yachting, accompanying the introduction of management planning to the WCCB MPA was initiated via key informant interviews. The data collected serve to validate information in the management plan as well as provide additional information that may be useful to inform management.

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