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15 - Adaptive institutions for coral reef conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Katrina Brown
Edited by
Isabelle M. Côté  and
John D. Reynolds
Katrina Brown
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Isabelle M. Côté
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
John D. Reynolds
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Institutions are the formal and informal rules that govern the way natural resources such as coral reefs are managed. They range from policy and legislative frameworks to local informal collective action, property rights, and norms and rules. Protected areas and other conservation and management designations, regulations, laws and local management networks are therefore all institutions relevant to conservation.

There is a substantial theoretical and empirical literature that discusses the characteristics of apparently ‘successful’ institutions for terrestrial protected area management (Agrawal, 2001; Pretty, 2002; McShane and Wells, 2004). However, relatively little social science analysis has been devoted to marine protected areas or coral reefs. What work has been done has focused on coastal management and, to a lesser extent, fisheries (e.g. Alcala et al., this volume).

This chapter examines institutional dimensions of marine protected areas (MPAs) and whether the design principles identified for terrestrial protected areas are applicable to marine resources. It argues that successful institutions for managing resources such as coral reefs should be efficient and effective in meeting their goals, be equitable in their outcomes and enjoy legitimacy among the relevant actors and institutions. To do this they need to be adaptive. Adaptive institutions are those that are able to deal with dynamic and fluctuating ecological conditions and resources; that recognize and manage a range of users and uses, and the trade-offs between them; and which can learn from and adapt to experience.

Type
Chapter
Information
Coral Reef Conservation , pp. 455 - 477
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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