State of the Bird’s Head Seascape MPA Network Report, 2015

The Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) of West Papua, Indonesia, is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity and a priority for conservation efforts. Over the past decade, marine conservation efforts led by the Indonesian government in partnership with civil society and local communities have brought more than 3.5 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 report, which will be updated on a regular basis, provides a scientific assessment of the current status and trend of nine key ecological and social indicators across the BHS MPA Network. 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 of each MPA. At the Seascape level, six of the nine key indicators of ecosystem health and human well-being with sufficient data to allow the analysis of trends over time (between 2010 and 2015) are either stable or increasing. While ecological responses varies among indicators and MPAs across the Seascape, hard coral cover, the populations of key fisheries species and fish functional groups are being maintained or improving within the BHS MPA Network. These broadly positive trends, and stable hard coral cover in particular, suggest that the coral reefs of the BHS MPA Network are in better condition than many coral reef ecosystems worldwide. Similarly, health, and education are increasing across the Seascape, but indicators of empowerment, economic well-being and place attachment are in decline. Social monitoring across the Seascape suggests that households are experiencing marked improvements in access to formal education (as measured by school enrollment rate) and the ability to access safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable foods (as measured by household food security). World Bank Scorecard management assessments indicate that in general, management of MPAs is slowly improving over time. 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 coral reef ecosystems across the Seascape.