NCEP Exercise- Marine Protected Areas and MPA Networks

Baseline information about a fictitious marine area and human uses of its resources are provided, with priority areas that need to be protected in order to achieve various outlined objectives. There are also accompanying maps of the area. Through role-play students assess user needs and develop a zoning plan that optimizes certain objectives, recognizing that not all objectives will be reached. The final zoning plan proposed should not only describe the targeted objectives, but should also outline assumptions about compliance, management and enforcement costs, and certainty of knowledge. You should also qualitatively describe costs and benefits, especially as they relate to the identified user groups, for the zoning plan they propose. Additional teaching materials on topics relating to biodiversity conservation and ecology can be obtained free of charge by registering at the Network for Conservation Educators and Practitioners’ website (http://ncep.amnh.org).