This study answers the key questions on marine protected areas (MPAs) by assessing country experience with these and other tools along the marine management area continuum that have been adopted to address loss of biodiversity and fisheries and other marine resource degradation, which have eroded traditional use rights and cultural identify. In light of the confusing array of MPA types and other Marine Management Areas, the report creates a typology of tools based on their structure and objectives and commented on their relative effectiveness in achieving objectives, including marine conservation. Finally, the report assesses the best way of scaling up these interventions to achieve results at meaningful scales through replication, networking, or mainstreaming onto other platforms. The main findings of this report were: open access is a principal driver of resource degradation in coastal commons
enforceable governance systems will be required to begin to deal with the formidable problem of regulating access (including types and rates of resource exploitation)-systems that can accommodate different marine coastal and marine environments and that do not undermine local cultural values and practices
while they can be successful in regulating access and use, particularly at the scale of local community-managed reserves, MPAs are fragile governance structures
they require ongoing stakeholder participation in co-management arrangements with authorities and adequate resources to enforce limited entry and use
MPAs are costly to establish and maintain
MPAs cannot survive in isolation
and a broad spectrum of MPA and other emerging coastal and marine management (CMM) frameworks are now in use.