Management effectiveness of a large marine protected area in Northeastern Brazil

Brazil has one of the largest protected areas (PA) systems in the world but just a small fraction is devoted to the protection of marine habitats. The effectiveness and integrity of PA are being challenged and questioned worldwide and this situation is not different in Brazil. Poorly managed PA are more vulnerable to habitat loss, poaching and other threats. Alarmingly, studies have shown that just a fraction of the current PA can be considered effectively managed. Facing such scenario, studies on the effectiveness of the management of PA and especially marine PA (MPA)- become essential to enhance the role these areas play in biodiversity conservation, as well as provide useful tools for managers and decision-makers. Using the Rapid Assessment and Priorization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) methodology, we evaluated the management effectiveness of the largest MPA in Brazil, the Environmental Protected Area Costa dos Corals (APACC, IUCN category V). In a rare opportunity in the context of Brazil's PA system, we were able to access the management effectiveness of APACC over a 15-year period, tracking progresses, identifying strengthens and weaknesses experienced. The overall management effectiveness of APACC has improved over the last 15 years. Although there were variations, five out of 14 indicators analyzed presented improvements while nine remained stable over the years. Finance was the module that contributed the most for the general improvement of APACC. Contrary to many other PA worldwide, which face budget restrictions, APACC's financial situation is currently stable and such stability may have had a positive effect on other management modules, like Infrastructure and Outputs. Research, Monitoring and Evaluation was among modules with slower progress, which is a contradiction considering APACC is amongst the Brazilian MPA with more research. The feedback from researchers is considered poor and most of the research conducted considered not useful for management purposes. Tourism has the highest increase in criticality, being not only the biggest pressure, but also the main threat. Considering that there were improvements in other areas, increasing APACC's limited staff should be a priority for the coming years. RAPPAM proved to be a quick and easy-to-apply methodology, making it effective for temporal analysis on the management of MPA. However, caution is necessary when analyzing some of RAPPAM results. Frequent changes in the management staff, poor records of the management process and the activities adopted, and incomplete transference of information between staff members inevitably compromises the answers and the overall accuracy. RAPPAM needs in loco validation of the answers and this could be a time consuming process for large PA. For better results, RAPPAM could and should be applied together with other evaluation methods. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.