For almost two decades, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been a central instrument of coastal conservation and management policies, but concerns about their abilities to meet conservation goals have grown as the number and sizes of MPAs have dramatically increased. This paper describes how a large (15 years) program of transdisciplinary research was used to successfully measure MPA management effectiveness (ME)—how well an MPA is managed, how well it is protecting values, and how well it is achieving the various goals and objectives for which it was created. This paper addresses the co-production and uptake of monitoring-based evidence for assessing ME in coastal MPAs by synthesizing the experiences of this program conducted with MPA managers. I present the main outcomes of the program, many were novel, and discuss four ingredients (learned lessons) that underpinned the successful uptake of science during and after the research program: (i) early and inclusive co-design of the project with MPA partners and scientists from all disciplines, (ii) co-construction of common references transcending the boundaries of disciplines, and standardized methodologies and tools, (iii) focus on outcomes that are management-oriented and understandable by end-users, and (iv) ensuring that capacity building and dissemination activities occurred during and persisted beyond the program. Standardized monitoring protocols and data management procedures, a user-friendly interface for indicator analysis, and dashboards of indicators related to biodiversity, uses, and governance, were the most valued practical outcomes. Seventy-five students were trained during the projects and most of the monitoring work was conducted with MPA rangers. Such outcomes were made possible by the extended timeline offered by the three successive projects. MPA managers’ and scientists a posteriori perceptions strongly supported the relevance of such collaboration. Local monitoring and assessment meets the needs of MPA managers, and forms the basis for large-scale assessments through upscaling. A long-term synergistic transdisciplinary collaboration between coastal MPA managers and research into social-ecological systems (SESs) would simultaneously (i) address the lack of long-term resources for coastal monitoring and SES-oriented research; (ii) increase science uptake by coastal managers, and (iii) benefit assessments at higher levels or at broader geographic scales.

中文翻译：

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评估沿海海洋保护区管理的有效性：科学推广和推广的四个经验教训

近二十年来，海洋保护区 (MPA) 一直是沿海保护和管理政策的核心工具，但随着 MPA 的数量和规模急剧增加，人们对它们实现保护目标的能力的担忧也在增加。本文描述了一个大型（15 年）跨学科研究计划如何成功地衡量 MPA 管理有效性 (ME)——MPA 的管理情况、保护价值的情况以及实现各种目标的情况和创建它的目标。本文通过综合与 MPA 管理人员进行的该计划的经验，讨论了联合生产和采用基于监测的证据来评估沿海 MPA 中的 ME。我介绍了该计划的主要成果，很多都是新颖的，并讨论支持在研究计划期间和之后成功采用科学的四个要素（吸取的教训）：（i）与 MPA 合作伙伴和来自所有学科的科学家早期和包容性地共同设计项目，（ii）共同建设超越学科界限的通用参考，以及标准化的方法和工具，(iii) 专注于以管理为导向且最终用户可以理解的结果，以及 (iv) 确保能力建设和传播活动发生在计划期间并持续到计划之后. 标准化的监测协议和数据管理程序、用于指标分析的用户友好界面以及与生物多样性、用途和治理相关的指标仪表板，是最有价值的实际成果。75 名学生在项目期间接受了培训，大部分监测工作是由 MPA 护林员进行的。三个连续项目提供的延长时间表使这些成果成为可能。MPA 管理人员和科学家的后验观念强烈支持这种合作的相关性。地方监测和评估满足了海洋保护区管理者的需求，并通过升级形成了大规模评估的基础。沿海 MPA 管理者与社会生态系统 (SES) 研究之间的长期协同跨学科合作将同时 (i) 解决沿海监测和 SES 导向研究的长期资源缺乏问题；(ii) 增加沿海管理者对科学的吸收，以及 (iii) 在更高级别或更广泛的地理范围内进行效益评估。