Governance analysis of two historical MPAs in northern Peru: Isla Lobos de Tierra and Isla Lobos de Afuera

Isla Lobos de Tierra and Isla Lobos de Afuera are two MPAs that show the importance of history in governance. In 2009 they were designated among the Guano Islands, Islets and Capes Reserve System for wildlife conservation and sustainability, after being protected for hundreds of years to manage guano. Since their designation, governance changed on paper, but not de facto. The major driver undermining conservation is fishing, which is enhanced by pressures of the global seafood market and informality (the predominant way of thinking and acting in Peru, transgressive of order and disrespectful of values, norms and institutions). Fish productivity in the Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem is the source of wildlife bounty around these small islands. Few incentives have been initiated to protect it and none looks at directly regulating fisheries. An obstacle is that the Parks Service has no authority to manage marine species. Management effectiveness requires improving cross-jurisdictional coordination with the Vice-Ministry of Fisheries, the Maritime Authority and other relevant entities to develop an integral plan where they all convene on working towards conserving these MPAs. Success will rely on an improved and diligent state participation that deeply understands the social complexities of these environments in order to address informality and potential equity issues. Despite the minimal intervention, the land ecosystem and its species remain relatively protected due to a governance legacy of strict enforcement and fraternal relationships between guardians and artisanal fishers, which highlights the importance of recognising history in conservation

Issues of context, capacity and scale: Essential conditions and missing links for a sustainable blue economy

Funding: This work was supported by the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), One Ocean Hub (Grant Ref: NE/S008950/1).The blue economy has roots in the international arena of sustainable development and sets out to unlock opportunities for economy and society whilst protecting and enhancing marine environments. To date there has been no analysis of how this overarching intention for sustainability has influenced the rapid development of blue economy policies at national and regional scales. In this article, we analyse the synergies and conflicts between blue economy policies from a diversity of national and regional policies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We show that to maintain critical alignment with targets for sustainability, place-based contextual development of blue economies that meet the needs of all actors is necessary. These needs relate to ensuring resilience against future environmental and political shocks, the maintenance of the ecological basis for thriving blue economies, and capacity development at all levels to support effective and equitable governance. Results indicate that co-production will be important to achieve sustainable blue economies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe