“MPA Tip” is a recurring feature in MPA News that presents advice on planning and management gathered from various publications on protected areas. The purpose is two-fold: to provide useful guidance to practitioners, and to serve as a reminder of valuable literature in the MPA field.
MPA News excerpted the following tip from Guidelines for Marine Protected Areas (IUCN, 1996), edited by Graeme Kelleher and available online at http://app.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/PAG-003.pdf.
Tip: The fundamental criterion for success in MPA planning and management is to bring in from the beginning every significant sector that will affect, or be affected by, the MPA. The reasons for this are simple. First, if those in a sector like fisheries or tourism are not involved from the beginning, they will be inclined to see the MPA planners and managers as either not interested in their sector or actively trying to disadvantage their interests. Second, no expert, however competent, has the detailed knowledge that would allow him or her to define adequately the interests of most sectors.