Question: Can alternatives be used if MCAs cannot be applied?
Answer: When Marine Conservation Agreements are not applicable, strategies related to public education and awareness, laws and policies, capacity building and scientific inquiry can be used to help protect coastal and marine biodiversity.
Marine Conservation Agreements (MCAs) are flexible tools that can be based on several different Models which are adaptable to a variety of circumstances. In some situations, however, alternative strategies may be more appropriate, quicker to apply, or more easily accepted by decision-makers and stakeholders. When project managers evaluate site-specific circumstances using the guidelines provided in Phase 1: Feasibility Analysis and determine MCAs are not appropriate, then one or more alternative conservation strategies should be considered.
While the table below is not exhaustive, it identifies some of the more probable strategies that may be used in concert with or instead of MCAs. The applicability of alternative conservation strategies to private versus public lands, resources, and ecosystem services as well as the levels and surety of protection will vary. Since the purpose of this toolkit is to provide practitioners detailed information regarding MCAs, the alternatives to MCAs are not treated at length. Additional information is provided below the table for Marine Protected Areas and Wetland Mitigation due to their inherent connection to MCAs. Links to additional information for other strategies are provided within the table.
The table, as well as a composite table that compares MCAs to the alternatives, can be downloaded as pdf files. Click on the thumbnail images to the right to download the respective files. For a more complete and standardized list of conservation actions, see The Conservation Measures Partnership Proposed Classification of Conservation Actions.
| Marine Conservation Strategies | Private Lands, Resources and Services | Public Lands, Resources and Services | Protection Level | Surety |
| Public Education & Awareness (See: SeaWeb or COMPASS) |
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| Advocacy | Occasional | Common | Minimal | Minimal |
| Awareness & Communications | Common | Common | Minimal | Minimal |
| Formal Education | Rare | Rare | Minimal | Minimal |
| Training | Common | Rare | Minimal | Minimal |
| Law & Policy (See: Oceana ) |
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| Marine Protected Areas | Rare | Common | Variable | Partial |
| Ocean Zoning | Occasional | Occasional | Partial | Partial |
| Regulatory Cleanup (pdf, 1,935k) | Common | Common | Full | Partial |
| Regulatory Prohibitions | Common | Common | Variable | Partial |
| Regulatory Permitting & Restrictions | Common | Common | Variable | Partial |
| Regulatory Wetland Mitigation | Common | Occasional | Full | Partial |
| Tax Incentives | Rare | Rare | Unknown | Minimal |
| Public Agency Capacity Building | ||||
| Funding | Occasional | Occasional | Partial | Minimal |
| Staffing | Rare | Rare | Partial | Minimal |
| Training | Common | Occasional | Partial | Minimal |
| Ocean/Marine Science (See: MarineBio.org ) |
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| Monitoring | Common | Common | Minimal | Minimal |
| Research | Common | Common | Minimal | Minimal |
Marine Protect Areas
Marine protected areas (MPAs) can function similarly to MCAs in that specific geographic areas of the oceans and coasts are identified and managed for protection, restoration, research, and educational purposes. The primary difference is that in most cases, government entities are the leads for MPAs while private organizations are the leads for many MCA projects. While private organizations may have some role in MPA development and management, rarely do they have lead roles with defensible rights or interests. MCAs can, however, lead to the formal establishment of MPAs and can provide a mechanism for local stakeholder involvement in collaborative management of MPAs. For more information on marine protected areas, see the IUCN/World Commission on Protected Areas Marine Program, the U.S. National Marine Protected Areas Center, and The Nature Conservancy’s work on MPAs and resilience.
Regulatory Wetland Mitigation
Compensatory wetland mitigation projects are undertaken to satisfy regulatory requirements to compensate for impacts from authorized development projects or unauthorized spills and accidents. While mitigation projects may serve to improve and protect habitat conditions at specific sites, they are normally done to off-set impacts at other sites. In most cases there is little or no net gain in improved or protected ocean and coastal habitats. MCAs on the other hand are typically not driven by regulatory requirements and are not being done to off-set specific impacts caused by project proponents. In most cases, there should be increased habitat improvement and protection as a result of MCAs. There are numerous types of compensatory mitigation projects. For more information on compensatory mitigation and mitigation banking in the U.S., see the Environmental Protection Agency site on Wetlands and the National Mitigation Banking Association.