Short-Term Ecological Impact of the Flores Timur Marine Protected Area, Summary Report 2018

We report on short-term ecological impacts from the Flores Timur MPA, in central Indonesia, based on monitoring conducted in 2014 and 2017. Flores Timur MPA was initiated in 2013, but has not yet been formally established with a zonation plan, and so all areas of the MPA are open to sustainable fishing. Our results suggest that hard coral cover, fish function group (herbivore) biomass, and key fisheries species biomass has increased in the MPA. We find limited evidence that the MPA is having a positive impact on ecological conditions using a matched-control sites impact evaluation framework. This lack of impact is unsurprising given the short time period (three years), and that formal zonation has not yet been completed. Given a longer period of time, and continued MPA management actions focused on building MPA effectiveness, it is likely that the MPA performance will increase.