Abstract

In 2010-2011, the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and the Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Network and Forum (CaMPAM) with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program first undertook an assessment of management capacity among priority coral reef marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Caribbean region. A specialized tool was developed for facilitated self-evaluation of management capacity by MPA managers, addressing some 20 distinct elements of effective MPA management programs. The findings highlighted regional capacity building needs associated with sustainable financing, law enforcement, strategic management planning and implementation, outreach and communications, and both socio-economic and bio-physical monitoring. Now six years later, and following initiatives to build MPA management capacity through the MPAConnect network and many partners, the assessment was repeated in 2017 and the findings updated. In this paper, we provide an update on the status of management capacity at 30 Caribbean MPAs in 10 countries and territories, we explore change and we present findings about the current top-priority needs of Caribbean MPA managers for capacity building.

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