Bird’s Head Seascape: Changes in Marine Protected Area Management Effectiveness

We annually assessed nine Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) marine protected areas (MPAs) using the World Bank MPA Score Card from 2012-2017. The score card provides a quantified summary of MPA management effectiveness, which allows status and trends in management to be tracked and compared through time. All nine BHS MPAs showed increases in management effectiveness. Mean management scores across the BHS MPA network increased from 60% in 2012 to 79% in 2017. The greatest gains were recorded for Kofiau, Kaimana, and Cenderawasih MPAs, with Kofiau MPA also having the greatest management effectiveness score in 2017 of all assessed MPAs. In general, our results suggest that MPA management effectiveness is improving in the BHS.