A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART I
Site Planning and Management
The role of the government should be to fulfill commitments to safeguard both
the national and the global heritage. However, governments often fail to show the longterm
thinking needed to meet this obligation. Thus, more often than not, MPA
managers will have to lobby intensely to obtain sufficient funds. Furthermore, trained
coastal and marine protected area managers are rarely available—managing coastal
and marine protected areas is a developing, challenging, and exciting field.
2.17 Administration
A section of the management plan describes how the protected area will be administered
(Table I-1; F,3). The administrative plan should be carefully coordinated with
management goals and objectives for the site to ensure that these can be attained within
specified periods. The administration should develop over the life of the management
plan. Even when money is no object, two or three years are generally required to reach
optimal operation. The first year of operating marine protected areas has sometimes
been a one-person effort. When this is the case, it should be made clear that very limited
progress can be made.
Adequate personnel are necessary to perform the variety of functions of creating
and managing the MPA site, particularly:
– To interpret relevant policies and objectives
– To direct the management of the MPA
– To prepare updated management plans
– To assess logistical requirements
– To undertake field operations, including surveillance and maintenance
– To perform activities related to research, monitoring, visitor use, education, and
training
The size of the site management staff depends on circumstances of the particular
MPA (see Case Histories in Part III for examples). Staff should be well trained for their
responsibilities, so they can carry out their tasks effectively. Managing protected
areas effectively calls for an understanding of the resource being protected, an ability
to communicate this to local people and visitors, and competence in many other
specialized areas.
2.18 Logistics
Certain minimum equipment is needed to ensure proper protection of an area. The
equipment needed for any MPA is usually specific for that particular site—binoculars,
boats, radios, vehicles, computers, or etc.
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