Navigating the Future of Marine World Heritage

By Bud Ehler and Fanny Douvere
UNESCO, 74 pages. http://whc.unesco.org/en/series/28

This report summarizes the conclusions and recommended actions from the first meeting of all World Heritage marine site managers, held in Hawai`i in December 2010. The meeting focused in particular on the exchange of success stories, providing the basis for a stronger community of site managers and the capacity needed to deal with the increasing complexity of conserving World Heritage marine sites. Outcomes from a survey to address threats and management gaps at the sites are also discussed in this publication.


How to Support the Development of Alternative Livelihoods and/or Income-Generating Activities in the Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas?

MedPAN, 60 pages. www.medpan.org/_upload/1537.pdf

These are the proceedings of a workshop held in Korba, Tunisia, in December 2010, that gathered MPA managers and others from the Mediterranean region and beyond. Alternative livelihoods and income-generating programs are defined here as professional activities that (a) provide compensation for the possible loss of income by local populations due to MPAs and (b) ensure that any resulting use of natural resources is sustainable. The proceedings present 12 brief case studies of MPA-related alternative livelihood programs or other income-generating initiatives in practice. Conclusions and recommendations from the three-day workshop are also provided.


A Management Capacity Assessment of Selected Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas in the Caribbean

By Meghan Gombos et al.
Caribbean MPA Managers Network & Forum, 269 pages. http://bit.ly/CoralMPACapacityAssessment

This report provides the results of an assessment of management capacity at 27 MPA sites throughout the Caribbean, including in the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Honduras, Mexico, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Turks and Caicos. It addresses criteria ranging from MPA management planning and governance, to monitoring and education, fisheries management, and resilience to climate change. The report also includes feedback from participating site managers about priority capacity needs (enforcement was the most commonly identified) and their desired approaches to capacity building.


Designing and Planning a Network of Community-Based Marine Protected Areas

By Anna Varney et al.
Coastal Conservation Education Foundation, 83 pages. http://bit.ly/CommunityBasedMPAs

Published in 2010 but only recently available online, this manual is designed to help coastal managers in the Philippines develop effective MPA networks. It walks readers through the guiding principles of MPA network governance (including coordinating multiple management institutions) and the related science – both ecological and social.