Solving the Mystery of Marine Protected Area Performance: Monitoring social impacts

This field manual is designed to provide step-by-step guidance on the implementation of the WWFUNIPA methodology for monitoring the social impacts of MPAs. Section 2 introduces a conceptual framework designed to enable researchers to systematically analyze MPA performance. It describes how mixed methods (household surveys, focus groups and key informant interviews) generate finescale data on the social impacts with a theory-based characterization of MPA governance. Section 3 provides a brief introduction to the principles of impact evaluation and how they may be applied to identify when and how to evaluate the social impacts of an intervention. It details a two-stage process for controlling for common biases which may confound estimates of impact. This process is designed to generate a robust framework for evaluating the impacts of conservation in data-poor contexts. Section 4 provides detailed guidance on the development, intent, and implementation of household surveys to document social impacts. Section 5 focuses on the use of focus groups and key informant interviews to describe variation in MPA governance.