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DSS-SMPA: a Web-based design and management decision making tool forMPA in Colombia – South AmericaPilar Lozano-Rivera, Julián Pizarro, Julio Bohórquez & Carolina Segura1 Research Program on Marine and Costal Management at Marine and Coastal Research Institute – INVEMAR. Santa Marta,Colombiapilar.lozano@invemar.org.co, julian.pizarro@invemar.org.co, siam@invemar.org.co, charitosq@gmail.comAbstractColombia’s coastal and marine biodiversity is currently subject to various forms of pressure within and outsidethe existing Marine Protected Areas (MPA). The long-term solution for many threats of Colombia’s biodiversity isthe design and implementation of a financially sustainable and effectively managed Subsystem of Marine ProtectedAreas (SMPA). Part of this process includes the development of the DSS-SMPA which is a web-based decisionmaking tool to support MPA managers and to build capacity for designing and managing MPA. The Decision SupportSystem (DSS) enables the MPA managers and stakeholders to access information from diverse sources throughan interactive interface integrating geographic representations, databases and documents. Three main modules arefunctional: i) General questions of SMPA, ii) Designing new or modifying existing MPAs, iii) monitoring and effectivenessindicators. DSS-SMPA will deliver benefits for strength management effectiveness of 26 MPA and willcontribute to the protection of over 8.4 million ha of marine ecosystems.IntroductionColombia is the fourth largest country in South America and it is among the top five most biodiverse countries onearth (Salazar et al., 2010). It is home to large habitats and marine ecosystems, such as coastal lagoons and wetlands,coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves, rocky and sandy beaches, upwelling zones, and various types of sea bottoms.Currently, Colombia has 26 marine protected areas (MPA) that cover close to 8% of the country’s marine andcoastal zones. Our coastal and marine biodiversity is currently subject to various forms of direct pressure and degradationsuch as overexploitation of fishing resources, habitat alteration, pollution, presence of alien invasive species,and climate change, both within and outside the existing MPA. The long-term solution to the many threats to Colombia’smarine biodiversity is the design and implementation of a financially sustainable and effectively managedSubsystem of Marine Protected Areas (SMPA). To this end, Colombia is implementing the SMPA as part of theNational Environmental System. This project is being supported by the GEF-UNDP with an inter-agency workingteam led by the Marine and Coastal Research Institute—INVEMAR (Alonso et al., 2008).Development of the DSS-SMPA as an information system to support decision making, is part of the capacitybuilding objectives proposed in the project. In this sense, we have being developing other additional activities suchas establishment of a monitoring system, support for management plans and training courses, seeking to improve thecapacity of MPA managers. Particularly the DSS aims to bring geographic information technology to decision makers,taking advantage of the information technologies (IT) progress of recent years. In the last decade, geographicinformation technologies have increased in both sophistication and ease of use, non-technical ability thereby enablingthe participants to visualize and interpret geographic data (Merrifield et al., 2012).MethodsThe design of the DSS-SMPA has been agreed in national workshops with the participation of the main MPA entitiessuch as the Natural National Parks Administration (PNN), the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development(MADS) and the sub-national environmental corporations. In addition, we have established an academicgroup including national and international experts. This group has met annually for the past four years to discuss andreview the progress of the system. A result of these meetings has been a proposed improvement for the DSS.This system is conceived as a web-based distributed system where users can access information from diversesources through an interactive interface. The system integrates geographic representations, databases and documents183