AUTHOR=Cardoso-Andrade Mariana , Queiroga Henrique , Rangel Mafalda , Sousa Inês , Belackova Adela , Bentes Luís , Oliveira Frederico , Monteiro Pedro , Sales Henriques Nuno , Afonso Carlos M. L. , Silva Ana F. , Quintella Bernardo R. , Costa José L. , Pais Miguel P. , Henriques Sofia , Batista Marisa I. , Franco Gustavo , Gonçalves Emanuel J. , Henriques Miguel , Leonardo Teresa , Coelho Paula , Comas-González Robert , Fernández Laura P. , Quiles-Pons Carla , Costa André , Espírito-Santo Cristina , Castro João J. , Arenas Francisco , Ramos Sandra , Ferreira Vasco , Gonçalves Jorge M. S. , Horta e Costa Bárbara TITLE=Setting Performance Indicators for Coastal Marine Protected Areas: An Expert-Based Methodology JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.848039 DOI=10.3389/fmars.2022.848039 ISSN=2296-7745 ABSTRACT=

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators (i.e., environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicators.