OPC is pleased to announce the release of two new reports developed by working groups of the OPC Science Advisory Team and Ocean Science Trust in close collaboration with OPC and CDFW staff, that will inform ongoing management of California’s marine protected area network:
- Foreword to the Reports
- Scientific Guidance for Evaluating California’s Marine Protected Area Network (2021). The group developed a socio-ecological framework to guide decadal evaluations of California’s MPA network and articulate recommendations for near and long-term investments in research and monitoring to support robust network evaluations. We have also attached a foreword that OPC prepared and that will be included with the reports.
- Climate Resilience and California’s Marine Protected Area Network (2021). The group provides an overview of climate change impacts and scenarios for the California Current, catalogs potential mechanisms and evidence by which MPAs could provide resilience to climate change (and weighs the evidence for and against each), suggests research that could guide our detection and understanding of climate resilience in California’s MPAs, and recommends a set of actions to support a climate-resilient MPA network. We have also attached a foreword that OPC prepared and that will be included with the reports.
The reports are the culmination of an immense amount of work over the past three years by scientific experts and the Ocean Science Trust to compile, review and disseminate knowledge pertaining to MPA performance and climate resilience. The recommendations and approaches presented in these reports provide critical guidance through a portfolio of options for the State to support informed management and evaluation of the MPA network for the first decadal management review and beyond, based on the best available science related to MPAs and climate change.
To stay informed on all things marine protected areas and the State’s first decadal review, please continue to check the OPC and CDFW Marine Protected Areas homepages for more information and updates.