Marine conservation in the Sunda Banda Seascape, Indonesia

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered the go-to tool for marine area-based conservation, having rapidly expanded in many countries, yet an understanding of progress and achievement in implementation remains vastly unexplored. Here, we assess the status and trends of coverage and protection, ecological conditions, marine resource use, human well-being, and management effectiveness of MPAs in the Sunda Banda Seascape (SBS), Indonesia, and provide the first comprehensive overview of marine conservation in the region. The SBS, located in the world's epicenter for marine biodiversity, has 85 designated MPAs (8.1 million ha) as of 2018, accounting for 35% of the national target of 23.4 million ha MPAs by 2020. Most SBS MPAs were recently initiated or established, and their management was strongly influenced by policy and governance changes at the national and provincial levels. SBS MPAs protect more than 30% of mangrove, seagrass, and coral reef habitats in the seascape, and surveys indicate relatively healthy coral reef conditions. Fishing is one of the most common livelihoods in the MPA communities; 90% of fishers use traditional gear types for fishing and destructive fishing is identified as the greatest threat to marine resources in the MPAs. Our findings suggest that balancing the expansion of MPAs with strengthening their management effectiveness and integrating diverse social-ecological local contexts are important aspects to achieve effective, equitable marine conservation.