The Nature Conservancy

Finalizing the Regional MPA Monitoring Protocol: Coral Reef Monitoring and 4th MC Measures Group Workshop

2012

The Nature Conservancy

84

"This is a workshop report of the 4th Micronesia Challenge (MC) Measures Group Workshop, held in Koror, Palau, on February 6-9, 2012. Representatives from all five MC jurisdictions reconvened at this workshop to finalize the work they had begun two years earlier and to chart their course for the next few years to ensure that they stay organized and remain focused towards achieving the goals of MCs marine component. The main purpose of the workshop was to finalize the MC regional MC Marine Monitoring Protocol (consisting of survey design, indicators, and methods), which was initiated in the previous regional workshop in 2010 and has been tested in marine protected areas in several islands throughout Micronesia since then. Other objectives of the workshop included updating the participants on the progress of the joint PICRC/JICA mission, Capacity Enhancement Project for Coral Reef Monitoring (CEPCRM), reach consensus on the proposed data management service, learn about the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Management Effectiveness Tool and identify new MPA sites to use this tool, and finally identify next steps for future collaborative activities. All the objectives set out for this workshop were achieved. The participants of this workshop learned, shared, approved proposals and made plans for continued collaboration. More specifically, they learned about the progress of relevant activities and new developments since the last regional meeting in 2010 (e.g., status of CEPCRM, progress of ecological and socioeconomic monitoring, and the new MPA Management Effectiveness Tool which has been tested in a couple of pilot MPA sites). What they shared included issues and challenges associated with implementing the proposed regional marine monitoring indicators, trends in monitoring activities in each jurisdiction and current capacity needs both for ecological and socioeconomic monitoring in the region. The participants also approved the final marine monitoring indicators and the proposed service and process for regional database management. Finally, to ensure that this Marine Working Group does not lose momentum after this workshop, the participants also laid out some concrete next steps for their continued collaboration, including identifying new sites to undergo the MPA Management Effectiveness Tool; identifying current capacity needs that will receive their attention; and laying out future directions of socioeconomic monitoring in the region, which remains one of the greatest challenges for the MC Working Group."

FY2009 CRCP Project 20411; Project Title: Partnership Agreement with The Nature Conservancy; Principal Investigator: Jenny Waddell ~ FY09 CRCP grant NA09NOS4190173

NOS/Office for Coastal Management (OCM)

NA09NOS4190173