A practical, adaptive compliance management framework for improving marine protected area effectiveness

Noncompliance regularly undermines the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) worldwide. The reasons for and drivers of noncompliance depend on the context (e.g., insufficient funding, capacity, neocolonialism, historical conflict), but the prevalent solution offered to curtail noncompliance tends to be more or better enforcement. We posit that this response is well intentioned but incomplete. It is reactive, rather than proactive, and identifies a solution before sufficiently identifying the problem-compliance is a people-centric problem, and although coercive enforcement is necessary, it is not a panacea for ensuring high compliance. We devised a novel adaptive management framework for compliance management in MPAs, with 6 critical elements: an underpinning regulatory basis; a situational assessment and conceptual model; data and information collation; risk assessment and strategic planning; compliance treatments; and monitoring and reporting effectiveness. Integrating these elements into a single, structured framework allows practitioners to holistically understand and manage compliance behaviors in MPAs. Each element has been applied in different world contexts, and different treatments and interventions are available to manage compliance, including normative interventions, strategic communications, and targeted, risk-based enforcement actions. Tailoring each element in the framework to specific contextual needs can provide a cost-effective, proactive, and adaptive approach for strategically deploying limited management resources where they can be most effective.