Low satisfaction and failed relational coordination among relevant stakeholders in Spanish Mediterranean marine protected areas

Abstract

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a conservation tool that are increasingly commonplace around the world. MPAs have the potential to benefit both ecosystems and human communities if well-designed and implemented. Achieving effective implementation and governance of MPAs, however, is complicated because they deal with systems that overlap with both non-human environments and human economies and societies. As a result, MPA success is thought to be primarily dependent on socioeconomic factors, particularly the behavior of stakeholder groups involved in the MPAs. Using the theory of relational coordination, we designed surveys that we delivered to members of four stakeholder groups implicated in five MPAs in the Spanish Mediterranean to investigate their habits of inter- and intra-group communication and relations. Relational coordination posits that high-quality communication and relations results in positive stakeholder behaviors and an effective system, which makes it a useful tool to investigate the effectiveness of the MPAs involved in this study. Our results demonstrate that a high degree of relational coordination leads to higher satisfaction on the part of the participants in the system. The exploratory model constructed here also supports the notion that each stakeholder group adopts particular beliefs and behaves in particular ways in terms of relational coordination and satisfaction. We found patterns that indicated poor communication and relations amongst the four stakeholder groups, which in turn has grave implications for management outcomes of these MPAs. Cumulatively, these conditions could precipitate management failure. To remedy these concerns, we recommend establishing channels of communication between the four stakeholder groups, and investigating means to cultivate good relations amongst these groups. Doing so will help assure management success.