Short-Term Ecological Impact of the Selat Pantar Marine Protected Area, Summary Report 2018

We report on short-term ecological impacts from the Selat Pantar MPA, in central Indonesia, based on monitoring conducted in 2014 and 2017. Selat Pantar MPA was initiated in 2009 and formally established in 2015. Our results suggest that hard coral cover and fish function group (herbivore) biomass is stable in the no-take zones and sustainable fishing zones within the MPA, while key fisheries species biomass is increasing in the no-take zones, and stable in the sustainable fishing zones. We find limited evidence that the MPA is having a positive impact on ecological conditions using a matched-control sites impact evaluation framework. This lack of impact is unsurprising given the short time (two years) between formal MPA establishment and this evaluation. Given a longer period of time, and continued MPA management actions focused on building MPA effectiveness, it is likely that the MPA performance will increase.