TropicalCoast 4th new indd

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July 2008

The establishment of an ecological 

network of marine protected areas 

(NMPAs) is widely considered as the most 

eff ective way to protect ocean biodiversity 

and its economic values. However, in 

the nearly one million square kilometer-

seascape of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas, where 

58 priority areas have been identifi ed for 

conservation and management over a 

timeframe of 50 years where should the 

MPA network start?

The direction for strategic marine 

conservation will be set by applying the 

best science with regard to selection, 

The Framework for a Network 

of MPAs in the SSME: Status of 

Implementation

By    Evangeline Florence B. Miclat

        Conservation International-Philippines

design and management of  MPA 

networks, which protect: a) valuable 

resources; b) the habitats that sustain 

them; and c) the interests of the people 

who depend on them. 

When planning for NMPAs establishment, 

it is necessary and basic to determine its 

conservation target. 

What is the aim of the 

NMPAs?  

The use of modeling to design an 

ecological NMPA does not work in the 

case of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas because of 

insuffi

  cient and scattered data.  To provide 

some basis in designing ecologically 

sensible NMPAs in this seascape, the basis 

for design was expert opinion and best 

knowledge. A workshop of MPA experts 

and practitioners was convened in 2003, 

under the auspices of the World Wide 

Fund for Nature-Sulu-Sulawesi Marine 

Ecoregion (WWF-SSME) Conservation 

Programme.  The objective of the 

workshop was to develop the Framework 

for a Network of MPAs in Sulu-Sulawesi 

Seas (WWF, 2004), based on MPA experts’ 

discussion and known biophysical 

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information (Stakeholders of the SSME, et 

al., 2004).

 

The SSME Conservation Programme 

focused on: (1)  protection of species 

of special concern; (2) management 

of integrated coastal ecosystems, 

i.e., mangrove forests-seagrass beds-

coral reefs-linked ecosystems with 

terrestrial components; and (3) fi sheries 

management. 

The Framework for NMPA in 

Sulu-Sulawesi

 

The development of the framework for a 

network of MPAs in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas 

took into account the following (Noss, 

1992):

1.  Representation of biodiversity in the 

areas that make up the network;

2. Maintenance of viable populations of 

species of special concern within the 

network;

3.  Maintenance of ecological and 

evolutionary processes that 

 aff ect biodiversity in the network; 

and 

4.  Resiliency by including in the 

network areas that have high rates to 

survive and recover from short- and 

long-term environmental changes.

The framework also considered a set of 

sample criteria for the NMPAs, which was 

derived from internationally accepted 

criteria for MPA establishment (Roberts, et 

al., 2003). Additional inputs were provided 

by MPA experts who contributed to the 

SSME NMPAs framework. The resulting 

criteria were as follows:

1.   Biogeographic representation

2.   Habitat representation and

       heterogeneity

3.   Human threats

4.   Natural catastrophes

5.   Size (expert functions, 

       viability, management)

6.   Connectivity

7.   Vulnerable habitats

8.   Vulnerable life stages

9.   Species of populations of 

      special concern

10.  Exploitable species

11.  Ecosystem linkages to ecological 

services for humans 

12.  Ecosystem services

13.  Adjacency of terrestrial managed 

areas

14.  Disturbance

Understandably, a network of sites 

intended to protect species would be 

diff erent from a set of sites that would 

target fi sheries management. Networks 

for species protection would vary in 

confi guration depending on species 

being targeted, e.g., NMPA for green sea 

turtles or NMPA for Napoleon wrasse. 

Due to these variations, experts worked 

in groups, with each group selecting the 

criteria for sample NMPAs, as applicable, 

from the set of identifi ed criteria. 

They matched the selected set of 

criteria with the fundamental goals of 

conservation, identifi ed the specifi c 

conservation targets of the sample 

NMPA, including indicators, based on 

the criteria and conservation goals, and 

listed the socioeconomic and cultural 

considerations in NMPA establishment. 

The group outputs were presented in 

the framework in three matrices:

1.  Network of species of special 

concern (for marine turtles);

2.  Network of MPAs for integrated 

coastal ecosystems (for coral reefs); 

and 

3.  Network of MPAs for fi sheries (for 

demersal, pelagic, reef and deep 

sea).

Each matrix provided ideas on the 

confi guration of a network depending 

on a chosen conservation objective. 

By combining the above matrices, a 

general framework was developed. 

The framework provides the guiding 

principles and biophysical and 

socioeconomic decision rules when 

establishing NMPAs in the SSME. 

Work in Progress

It is a work in progress and will have to 

be tested and improved accordingly. 

Notwithstanding its draft form, it 

is useful for a seascape like Sulu-

Sulawesi where scientifi c information is 

insuffi

  cient, in guiding the establishment 

of ecological networks of MPAs for 

biodiversity conservation and resource 

management. (Table 1 presents 

the biophysical and socioeconomic 

considerations for the Network of MPAs 

for Species of Special Concern).

The framework also provides immediate 

(two years), intermediate (one to fi ve 

years) and long-term (seven to ten years) 

action priorities for implementation.  

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