Abstract The characteristics and duration of the processes occurring from the design and designation of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) to the effective implementation and renewal of its management plan were analysed in 234 MPAs from four countries in the North-east Atlantic Ocean (France, Portugal, Spain and England). These MPAs were managed by 118 plans and each one could be applied to between one and 11 MPAs, with a mean of 2 MPAs per plan. Of these plans, 81% had been implemented since 2000, motivated by the approval of different directives at the European and global levels that promoted important changes in national policies. Information about the design and implementation of each management plan was summarized through a questionnaire, and was analysed to describe the different phases of the design and implementation and determine the duration of each phase. Four main failures were identified in the design and implementation of plans: (i) Gaps between MPA designation and plan implementation, with a mean period of 10.9 years; (ii) only 70% of the analysed MPAs shared a plan; (iii) stakeholders were involved only in the revision phase of the plan design in 90% of the cases, while their involvement in the other critical design processes occurred in less than 30% of the cases; (iv) 39% of operating plans were not renewed on time and had a delay of 4 years on average, extending the duration of plans up to almost twice their planned 5- to 6-year duration. These failures represent clear shortcomings in MPA performance, because: (i) during the gap period the MPAs were “paper parks”; (ii) sharing a plan among MPAs does not allow to define specific objectives for every MPA involved; (iii) actively involving stakeholders in all phases from the development of the plan to its daily management is an important point for the long-term success of a plan; and (iv) plan renewal is an essential process to ensure the continuous improvement and innovation in management required for the good performance of a MPA.

中文翻译：

---

海洋保护区管理计划的设计和实施失败：东北大西洋的实证分析

摘要 分析了东北大西洋四个国家的 234 个海洋保护区 (MPA) 从设计和指定海洋保护区 (MPA) 到有效实施和更新其管理计划的过程的特征和持续时间。葡萄牙、西班牙和英格兰）。这些 MPA 由 118 个计划管理，每个计划可以应用于 1 到 11 个 MPA，平均每个计划 2 MPA。在这些计划中，81% 自 2000 年以来已实施，其动机是在欧洲和全球层面批准了促进国家政策重大变化的不同指令。每个管理计划的设计和实施信息通过问卷汇总，并被分析以描述设计和实施的不同阶段，并确定每个阶段的持续时间。在计划的设计和实施过程中发现了四个主要的失败： (i) MPA 指定和计划实施之间的差距，平均为 10.9 年；(ii) 只有 70% 的被分析的海洋保护区共享一个计划；(iii) 在 90% 的案例中，利益相关者只参与了规划设计的修订阶段，而他们参与其他关键设计过程的案例不到 30%；(iv) 39% 的运营计划未按时更新，平均延迟 4 年，将计划期限延长至计划 5 至 6 年期限的近两倍。这些失败代表了 MPA 表现的明显缺陷，因为： (i) 在空白期，MPA 是“纸公园”；(ii) 在 MPA 之间共享计划不允许为每个涉及的 MPA 定义具体目标；(iii) 从计划制定到日常管理的各个阶段，利益相关者的积极参与是计划长期成功的重要因素；(iv) 计划更新是确保海洋保护区良好绩效所需的管理持续改进和创新的重要过程。