2016 State of the Bird’s Head Seascape MPA Network Report

The Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) of West Papua, Indonesia, is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity and a priority for conservation. Over the past decade, marine conservation efforts, led by the Indonesia government in partnership with civil society and local communities, have brought more than 3.6 million hectares under protection through the establishment and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Seascape. Since 2008, local universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have worked together to develop rigorous methods to monitor the ecological and social conditions of the BHS MPA network. This is the second annual BHS State of the Seascape report providing a scientific assessment of the status and trends of nine key ecological and social indicators across the BHS MPA Network for 2016. These indicators include standard scientific measurements of coral reef ecosystem health, marine fisheries, and human well-being (including economic well-being, health, empowerment, education, and culture). At the same time, the report also documents the management status and marine resource governance in each MPA. At the Seascape level, all three ecosystem indicators (hard coral cover, key fisheries species, and fish functional group biomass) remain stable. While ecological indicator responses vary among the Seascape’s MPAs, in general, hard coral cover, biomass of key fisheries species, and biomass of fish functional groups are being maintained. The stability of these key indicators of ecosystem health suggests that coral reefs of the BHS MPA Network are in better condition and may be more resilient to climate change than many coral reef ecosystems worldwide (e.g. Jackson et al., 2014). Continued progress in MPA management will be needed to sustain and improve ecological conditions across the Seascape. Trends in human well-being are highly variable across the Seascape. Household food security and school enrollment rates are increasing across the Seascape, likely driven by government investment and improving market access. In contrast, household material assets and marine tenure are declining, likely due to fuel price inflation and a shift in the management authority over marine resources, respectively. Place attachment—the emotional connection to the marine environment—remains high and stable. Trends in human well-being are broadly consistent across the BHS MPAs, suggesting that regional-scale political, economic, or social processes may be driving these trends rather than local-scale dynamics. World Bank Scorecard management assessments indicate that in general, MPA management is continuing to improve. There is some variation among MPAs, with 2016 management effectiveness scores highest for Kofiau dan Pulau Boo MPA and a decline in management effectiveness reported in Teluk Cenderawasih National Park. Government, civil society, and local communities need to build on their current successes in the BHS MPA Network by further mitigating manageable threats (e.g. destructive fishing), strengthening MPA management (e.g. ensuring participation of key stakeholders), and striving to improve human well-being (e.g. economic well-being). In so doing, this will foster sustainable development and support healthy, productive, resilient local communities and ecosystems across the Seascape.