Experience Note

Stakeholder engagement in Marine Protected Areas planning,

development and management
AT A GLANCE

ABSTRACT

The Strategic Partnership for the

Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem
(MedPartnership) is a collective effort of
leading environmental institutions and
organizations together with countries sharing
the Mediterranean Sea to address
environmental challenges that Mediterranean
marine and coastal ecosystems face. The
projects 78 demonstration and the promotion
and replication of good practices will maximize
impact and ensure the sustainability of the
project beyond its lifespan.

Within the MedPartnership project, WWF-MedPO built the

capacity and guided MPA managers and practitioners in the
project countries through the successful implementation of
participatory MPA management planning processes. Secured
commitment and support of decision-makers and meaningful
engagement of stakeholders are the foundations of functioning
MPAs. Participatory stakeholder engagement is therefore one
of the most important steps in planning and implementing an
MPA, and it should start at the very outset of the MPA
development process. However, full engagement can be
reached only when MPA managers and practitioners have the
ability to build healthy, lasting and trustful relationships with
their stakeholders, including local communities. Different
techniques and tools were applied at each site depending on the
stakeholder engagement maturity of local partners.

Total budget: 48 millions USD.

13 million USD: Global Environment Facility
35 million USD: Participating countries,
executing agencies, and donors.

Together for the Mediterranean

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
Within the MedPartnership project, a wide range of activities, techniques and tools have been developed and implemented by WWF-MedPO to guide and support managers and staff of project MPAs in the identification and active engagement of stakeholders in the first phases of MPA development and in securing the buy-in and support of both
stakeholders and decision-makers to their MPA.

THE EXPERIENCE
The long term success of a MPA largely depends on the level of engagement, shared ownership and commitment of its
stakeholders. Stakeholders should be involved at every stage of the development of an MPA to ensure that their perspectives, knowledge, and support are included. If brought in too late in the process, MPAs may fail in delivering on their
expected objectives.
To ensure full stakeholders' participation to the planning and development of the project MPAs, the following set of
actions - including specific techniques and tools - were implemented by local partners with the technical support of
WWF-MedPO:
1. Understanding and informing stakeholders to build a foundation of mutual trust, create opportunities for sharing
information, and identify areas of common interest, through the organization of:
participatory training workshops to characterise stakeholders
informal and formal meetings, and exchange visits with more advanced MPAs to improve stakeholders' understand
ing of the purpose and benefits of MPAs and ultimately built trust
2. Engaging stakeholders through multi-stakeholder MPA planning processes, entailing the following steps:
establishment of a planning team at each project MPA
design and implementation of a step-by-step planning processes to develop the MPA management plans of each project MPA
organization of a series of thematic workshops built into the planning process to ensure the participations of all relevant stakeholders
organization of training workshops on stakeholder engagement techniques and participatory planning processes
compilation of the information gained through the participatory process and presentation of the MPA proposal to decision-makers from local and national steering committees for final approval.
3. Engaging stakeholders as advisors:
establish formal multi-stakeholder advisory bodies to collaboratively and collectively find shared approaches to complex
resource management issues, and to make recommendations on management solutions to the MPA managers.

Source:
Gomei M. and Di
Carlo G., 2012)

Each set of actions corresponded to progressively greater participation from stakeholders and increasingly more shared
responsibility with the MPA management authority.

Together for the Mediterranean

RESULTS
MPA managers and practitioners in the project
countries (Croatia, Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia
and Libya) successfully secured and maintained the support and commitment of relevant
decision-makers and stakeholders during the
preliminary implementation phases of their
MPAs. They acquired the techniques and tools
to effectively identify and characterise the
groups having a vested interest in their MPAs.
They were able to understand the needs and
priorities of these groups, to learn from their
knowledge, to find a common ground with
each group, to build trust, and to secure their
ownership. Step-by-step, multi-stakeholder MPA management planning processes were successfully completed, triggering an open dialogue among all institutions having authority on the project MPAs. Conflicts for the regulation of
economic activities (fisheries and tourism in particular) were successfully worked out through the organization of
information-exchange activities and participatory training workshops, as well as the establishment of Advisory
Boards and Steering Committees. As for most of the countries involved in the project participatory management
planning process was a new concept, tailored capacity building activities and trouble-shooting mechanisms were
delivered by WWF to support MPA mangers and practitioners in facilitating long negotiations and managing con-

LESSONS LEARNED
Participatory stakeholder engagement is perhaps the most important component in the steps towards the establishment of functioning MPAs. However, most of the countries in the South and East of the Mediterranean are not used
to set up and facilitate participatory processes. Practitioners from these countries, more often than not, lack the skills
and capacities to bring all stakeholders together, build trust, manage confrontations and resolve conflicts. The project
was successful in building these capacities in the project countries and guiding MPA managers and practitioners
through the implementation of participatory MPA management planning processes at their sites. Well-established
and trustful relationships between MPA managers and their stakeholders, including local communities and decisionmakers, at each project sites, clearly show how an early and extensive stakeholder engagement is key for securing
success in the designation, implementation and management of a MPA. Given its importance, a guidebook was developed by WWF, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the USA,
where key steps, techniques and tools, as well as lessons learned from the project sites, are summarized and made
available to MPA practitioners worldwide.

IMPACTS
In early 2009, the authority of the Taza National Park in Algeria applied for the extension of its borders to the adjacent marine area and the creation of a new MPA. To ensure stakeholders' endorsement to the future MPA, the
Park Authority adopted a participatory approach to the MPA management planning process. A Steering Committee
was established to engage and secure the commitment of local administrations, while - for the first time in Algeria
- an Advisory and Consultation Commission was constituted to further bring Park staff and community members
together in the planning process. The consultations lasted three years and required long negotiations. However, the
community responded positively to this new challenge and actively participated to the planning process. They finally agreed on a zoning plan that meets both conservation and socioeconomic objectives. They also developed a
sense of ownership that will ensure higher compliance to and the effective implementation of MPA regulations.
A key element in the preparation of the documents is to ensure that we cooperate with all local stakeholders in a
participatory process. Failure to do so would seriously compromise the chances of success of the project.
Nadia Ramdane, Local project coordinator Algeria, Taza National Park

Together for the Mediterranean

REFERENCES
Relevant project publications:
Making Marine Protected Areas WorkLessons Learned in the Mediterranean. GOMEI M. and Di Carlo G. (2012)
WWF Mediterranean. 56 pages.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT. Participatory Approaches for the Planning and Development of Marine Protected Areas. WALTON A. Gomei M. and Di Carlo G. (2013) World Wide Fund for Nature and NOAA National
Marine Sanctuary Program. 36 pages.
Project Website: Giuseppe Di Carlo
WWF MedPO
Via Po 25/c,00197
Rome, ITALY
EXECUTING PARTNER
WWF Mediterranean: The mandate of WWF Mediterranean (also known as WWF MedPO) is to pursue WWF
global priorities to conserve biodiversity and reduce the human footprint on nature. In the Mediterranean WWF
works through field projects advocating improvements in regional and national policy processes affecting nature conservation and resource management. Complementing the work of the five WWF national organizations active in the
region (France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey), WWF Mediterranean operates in fourteen countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia,
Syria and Tunisia.
KEYWORDS
Mediterranean,
Marine Protected Area,
Stakeholder engagement,
Participatory MPA management planning process

The MedPartnership Project

UNEP/MAP Information Office
48, Vas Konstantinou,
Athens, 11635, Greece
Executing partners: FAO, UNESCO/IHP, UNIDO, GWP-Med, MIO-ECSDE, WWF MedPO, UNEP/MAPs
MEDPOL programme and regional activity centres (SCP/RAC, SPA/RAC and PAP/RAC).
Participating countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco,
Montenegro, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.