Publisher : Ocean & Coastal Management
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2012
Thematic : Marine Protected Areas
Language :
Note
The California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative (Initiative) was a public-private partnership focused on designing a statewide network of marine protected areas (MPAs) to increase coherence and effectiveness in protecting the state's marine life, habitats, and ecosystems through a public planning process. In pursuing this core charge, the Initiative had to consider a range of other (non-MPA) policy issues and develop approaches to ensure that MPA network planning continued unimpeded, while also facilitating the consideration of issues deemed outside of California’s MPA planning process. This paper explores the strategies used to address policy issues that arose in MPA planning and provides examples from six specific topic areas: fisheries management, water quality, military use areas, marine bird and mammal protection, dredging and maintenance, and tribal gathering activities. Each of these topics helps illustrate a different strategy utilized, including engaging policy issues early, providing additional evaluations, engaging additional support, putting complimentary issues on a parallel track, utilizing flexibility in statutes, and ensuring frequent and direct stakeholder communication. Considering how multiple issues were addressed in a MPA planning process provides important insights for more integrated coastal and marine spatial planning. ⺠Policy issues have the potential to disrupt MPA planning processes. ⺠For the MLPA Initiative, policy issues included military areas and tribal gathering. ⺠Engaging issues early and providing necessary resources helps address policy issues. ⺠Maintaining flexibility is important for addressing policy issues. ⺠Addressing, and not necessarily reconciling, policy issues, moves planning forward.
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Keywords : participatory management process
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
