Conservation "identity" and marine protected areas management: A Mediterranean case study

Michelle Portman, Daniel Nathan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Protection of natural environments sought through management plans varies greatly between countries; characterizing these differences and what motivates them can inform future regional and international conservation efforts. This research builds on previous work addressing the spatial distribution of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Particularly, it examines the relationship between a "protection level" (PL) score and a set of variables pertaining to each country's conservation efforts, economic conditions and human impact along the coast using regression analysis. Four sets of models demonstrated country characteristics that correlate with higher protection levels within marine protected areas (MPAs). Certain contextual factors - economic dependence on the marine environment, efforts at terrestrial conservation and greater human impact - were found to be significantly associated with higher PLs among the northern littoral countries of the Mediterranean. Such findings can inform policy makers about where efforts and investments should be directed for marine conservation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)109-116
Number of pages8
JournalJournal for Nature Conservation
Volume24
Issue numberC
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Human impact
  • Management plans
  • Mediterranean sea
  • Protected area zoning
  • Protection levels

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nature and Landscape Conservation
  • Ecology

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