Field Projects

This section of the toolkit presents information on a diversity of Marine Conservation Agreement (MCA) field projects and begins to establish an inventory of MCAs. The MCA field projects serve as examples of how and where in-water projects can be undertaken. Sample documents such as leases and deeds are provided for some projects. Relevant publications are also provided.

MCA Field Project Inventory

The inventory below represents a collection of known projects that meet the definition of an MCA. Our goal is to identify and inspire at least 500 MCA field projects throughout the world as a means to establish the validity, replicability, scope, scale and positive impact of MCAs. If you know of new field projects, or additional information regarding the projects already identified, that should be considered for inclusion in the inventory, please Contact Us.

Click on any column arrows to sort the data.

No.	Country	Project Site	Agreement Type	Status	Duration	Size   (acres)	Type of Activity	Protected Marine Feature	Lead Organization
1	Belize	Abalone Caye Island, Port Honduras	Management Agreement	Completed		209,280	Marine Reserve Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
2	Belize	Shipstern Nature Reserve	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	5,400	Nature Reserve Management	Saline Lagoon, Mangroves	International Tropical Conservation Foundation
3	Belize	Port Honduras	Memorandum of Under-standing	Operational		102,400	Marine Reserve Management		Toledo Institute for Development and Environment
4	Belize	Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes	Memorandum of Under-standing	Operational		26,000	Marine Reserve Management		Southern Environmental Association Belize/Friends of Nature
5	Belize	Sapodilla Cayes	Memorandum of Under-standing	Operational		43,000	Marine Reserve Management		Toledo Association for Sustainable Tourism and Empowerment
6	Chile	Navidad, Isla Juan Fernández	Management Agreement	Operational			Community Stewardship / MPA	Fish	Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
7	Chile	Montemar	Concession	Operational		3	Research		Universidad de Valparaiso
8	Chile	Mehuin	Concession	Completed			Research		Universidad Austral
9	Chile	Las Cruces	Concession	Operational		12	Research, Preservation		Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
10	Chile	Punta Coloso	Concession	Operational		227	Research		Minera Escondida Limitada
11	Chile	Lenga	Concession	Operational		20	Research		Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion
12	Chile	Antofagasta	Concession	Operational		42	Research		Universidad de Antofagasta
13	Chile	Herradura	Concession	Operational		106	Research		Universidad Catolica del Norte
14	Chile	Quintay	Concession	Operational		1	Research		Universidad Andres Bello
15	Chuuk	Epinup Village	Management Agreement	Operational	25 years	200	Conservation Area Management	Mangroves	Seacology
16	Chuuk		Management Agreement	Concept					OneReef
17	Colombia			Proposed			Community Stewardship / MPA		Conservation International
18	Cook Islands	Manihiki Atoll	Management Agreement	Operational	30 years	72	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
19	Ecuador	Galera-San Francisco	Management Agreement	Operational			Community Stewardship / MPA	Fish	Conservation International, NAZCA
20	Fiji	Coastal Villages	Commercial Production Agreement	Completed			Community Stewardship / LMMA	Nearshore Habitat	University of South Pacific – Fiji
21	Fiji	Dakuniba Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	24,711	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
22	Fiji	Laselase Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	17,297	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
23	Fiji	Levukai Daku Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	19,200	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
24	Fiji	Lobau, Veivatuloa, Wailoaloa Villages	Management Agreement	Completed		4,942	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
25	Fiji	Marou, Malevu, Somosomo Villages	Management Agreement		20 years	9,884	Fishing Preserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
26	Fiji	Nacamaki Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	494,211	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
27	Fiji	Naikorokoro Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	10,880	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
28	Fiji	Nakaunasele Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	8,320	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
29	Fiji	Navolau Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	370,658	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
30	Fiji	Nukuvou Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	14,826	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
31	Fiji	Sila Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	24,710	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
32	Fiji	Viana Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	7,413	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
33	Fiji	Vuna Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	1,483	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
34	Fiji	Vuna Village	Management Agreement	Operational	20 years	1,527	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
35	Fiji	Waisomo Village	Management Agreement	Completed	5 years	7,040	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
36	Fiji	Yasawa I Rara Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	51,200	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
37	India	Kavarathi Island	Management Agreement	Proposed	10 years	500	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
38	India	Minicoy Island	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	2,471	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
39	Indonesia	Papua	Lease	Operational			Aquaculture	Marine Area	Atlas South Seas Pearls
40	Indonesia	Papua	Lease	Operational	25 years	50,000	Ecotourism/NTZ Creation	Fish & other Marine Organisms	Misool Ecoresort
41	Indonesia	Asmats	Management Agreement	Completed		448,000	Fishing Grounds Enforcment	Marine Fish	Seacology
42	Indonesia	Bunaken	Management Agreement			395	Local Managed Marine Area Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
43	Indonesia	Manado Tua	Management Agreement	Completed		5	No-take Zone Creation; Coral Reef Restoration	Coral Reefs	Seacology
44	Indonesia	Manado Tua Satu Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	160	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
45	Indonesia	Molas, Meras, Tongkeina, Bahowo Villages	Management Agreement	Completed		160	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
46	Indonesia	Pinasungkulan Village	Management Agreement	Completed		36	No-take Zone Creation	Mangroves, Coral Reefs	Seacology
47	Indonesia	Pulau Banyak	Management Agreement	Proposed		1,665	No-take Zone Creation	Mangroves, Coral Reefs	Seacology
48	Indonesia	Togean Islands	Management Agreement	Completed		3,200	No-take Zone Creation	Coral Reefs	Seacology
49	Indonesia	Kofiau, Raja Ampat, Papua	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	41,360	Marine Reserve Creation	Mangroves; coral reefs	Seacology
50	Indonesia	Palau, Helen Reef	Management Agreement	Initiated	20 years				OneReef
51	Indonesia	Penemu and Bambu Conservation Area	MCA Contract	On-going	25 years	70,000 km2	Marine Conservation Area (NTZ) Management	Marine Habitat	Sea Sanctuaries Trust
52	Kiribati	Phoenix Islands	License	Operational		99,000,000	MPA	Marine Habitat	New England Aquarium, Conservation International
53	Kosrae	Lelu Island	Management Agreement	Operational	20 years	300	Conservation Area Creation	Mangroves, Coral Reefs, Seagrass	Seacology
54	Marshall Islands	Ailuk Atoll	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	209	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
55	Mexico	Baja California, Gulf of California	Lease	Initiated			Fishing Modifications	Vaquita	World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy
56	Mexico	Baja California, Gulf of California	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Initiated			Fish Reduction, No-trawl Zone Creation	Vaquita	World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy
57	Micronesia	Yap	Management Agreement	Concept					OneReef
58	Palau	Ebiil Channel	Management Agreement	Completed		2,560	Conservation Area Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
59	Palau	Ngemai Reef	Management Agreement	Completed		256	Conservation Area Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
60	Palau	Ngardmau	Management Agreement	Completed		618	Conservation Area Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
61	Papua New Guinea	Kimbe Bay	Management Agreement	Completed		2	No-take Zone Management	Marine Habitat	Seacology
62	Papua New Guinea	Kimbe Bay	Management Agreement	Completed		75	Locally-Managed Marine Area Expansion	Marine Habitat	Seacology
63	Papua New Guinea	Sariba Island	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	13	Conservation Area Creation	Mangroves, Seagrass	Seacology
64	Philippines	Central Visayas	Management Agreement	Operational	50 years		Community Stewardship	Mangroves	Philippines Department of Environment & Natural Resources
65	Philippines	El Nido	Management Agreement	Completed		2,000	No-take Zone Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
66	Philippines	El Nido	Management Agreement	Operational	25 years	470	Marine Protected Area Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
67	Philippines	Jandayan	Management Agreement	Completed		150	Marine Protected Area Creation	Mangroves, Coral Reefs, Seagrass	Seacology
68	Philippines	Barangay San Pedro, Municipality of Biri, Northern Samar	Management Agreement	Operational		25	No-take Zone Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
69	Pohnpei	Lenger Island	Management Agreement	Completed		960	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
70	Spain	Canary Islands	Concession	Proposal			Ecotourism/NTZ	Bay	Canarian Association for a Sustainable Ocean
71	Spain	Santander and Camargo, Alday Inlet	Concession	Operational		29	Restoration	Intertidal Marsh Habitat	Naturaleza y Hombre Foundation
72	Spain	Garraf	Concession	Proposed		193	Marine Park Creation	Artificial Reef	Acciónnatura
73	Spain	Girona, Ses Negres	Management Agreement	Completed			No-take Zone Management		Nereo
74	Tanzania	Zanzibar, Chumbe	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	74	Ecotourism/MPA	Coral Reefs	Chumbe Island Coral Park
75	Tanzania	Zanzibar, Southwest Coast	Management Agreement	Concept		116,000	Marine Protected Area Management	Coral Reefs	Chumbe Island Coral Park
76	Thailand	Trang Province	Management Agreement	Completed		4,040	Habitat Protection	Mangroves, Seagrass	Seacology
77	United States	Rhode Islands, Salt Ponds	Informal Agreement	Operational			Restoration	Shellfish & Seagrass	Salt Ponds Coalition
78	United States	California, Central Coast	Lease	Completed	3 years	1,200	Research	Kelp/Fish	The Nature Conservancy
79	United States	California, Central Coast	Lease	Operational	Perpetual		Fishing Modification	Fish and Deepwater Habitat	The Nature Conservancy
80	United States	Louisiana Coast	Lease	Concept			Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
81	United States	Texas, Galveston Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	2,346	Restoration	Shellfish & Seagrass	Galveston Bay Foundation, The Nature Conservancy
82	United States	Connecticut, Neck River	Lease	Operational	5 years	2	Restoration	Shellfish	Madison Shellfish Commission
83	United States	Oregon, Netarts Bay	Lease	Proposal			Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
84	United States	Oregon, Port of Alsea	Lease	Concept			Restoration	Estuary	The Nature Conservancy
85	United States	California, Richardson Bay	Lease	Operational	50 years	900	Preservation	Estuary	Richardson Bay Audubon / California Audubon
86	United States	Florida, Sarasota Bay	Lease	Operational			Nature Preserve	Nearshore Habitat	Audubon of Florida
87	United States	Maine, Tauton Bay	Lease	Concept			Restoration	Eelgrass	University of Maine, Machias
88	United States	Washington, Woodard Bay	Lease	Operational	10 years	10	Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
89	United States	Alabama, Mobile Bay	Permits	Completed	Short-term		Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
90	United States	Rhode Island, Narragannsett Bay	Permits	Operational	1 year		Restoration	Shellfish & Seagrass	Save The Bay, The Nature Conservancy
91	United States	California, Central Coast	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Completed			Fish Reduction, No-trawl Zone Designation	Fish and Deepwater Habitat	The Nature Conservancy
92	United States	Massachusetts, Eastham	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual		Protection	Intertidal Lands	The Nature Conservancy
93	United States	New York, Great South Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	13,000	Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
94	United States	Connecticut, Long Island Sound	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Concept	Perpetual		Preservation	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
95	United States	Virginia, Outer Banks	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	300	Restoration	Shellfish	The Nature Conservancy
96	United States	New York, Peconic Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual		Protection	Estuarine Habitat	The Nature Conservancy
97	United States	Washington, Port Susan Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	4,122	Restoration	Nearshore Habitat	The Nature Conservancy
98	United States	Washington, Fidalgo Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	530	Preservation	Estuarine Habitat	Skagit Land Trust
99	United States	California, San Francisco Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	1,000	Restoration	Estuarine Habitat	Sonoma Land Trust
100	United States	California, San Francisco Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual		Protection	Estuarine Habitat	Marin Rod & Gun Club
101	United States	California, San Francisco Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual		Protection	Estuarine Habitat	The Nature Conservancy
102	United States	Massachusetts, Wellfleet Bay	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual	234	Restoration	Shellfish	Massachusetts Audubon, The Nature Conservancy
103	Vanuatu	Dip Point, Wakon Community	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	25	Conservation Area Creation	Brachish Sea Lake	Seacology
104	Vanuatu	Marou Community	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	32	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
105	Vanuatu	Nasawa Community	Management Agreement	Operational	15 years	62	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
106	Vanuatu	Pango Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	17	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
107	Vanuatu	Sanoa Village	Management Agreement	Operational	10 years	12	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat	Seacology
108	Vanuatu	Sunae Village	Management Agreement	Operational	11 years	92	Marine Reserve Creation	Marine Habitat, Mangroves	Seacology
109	United Kingdom	England, Wales and Northern Ireland	Purchase & Sale Agreement	Operational	Perpetual		Protection	Coastal Habitat	The National Trust
110	Madagascar	Massif des Roses				5	Seasonal No Take Zone	Marine Habitat	Reef Doctor
111	Madagascar	Velondriake				172,974	No Take Zones	Coral Reefs, Mangroves, Seagrass, Lagoons, Beaches	Blue Ventures
112	Mozambique	North Quirimbas	Leased Management Rights			56,834		Marine Habitat	Maluane Initiative
113	Mozambique	Vilanculos	Leased Management Rights		50 years	19,768	Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary	Marine Habitat	Vinanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary
114	Seychelles	Aride Island	Transfer of Ownership			173	No Take Zone		Island Conservation Society
115	Seychelles	Cousin Island	Transfer of Ownership			2	No Take Zone		Nature Seychelles
116	Tanzania	Mnemba Island	Leased Management Rights			37	Ecotourism	Reefs	&Beyond Africa
117	Tanzania	Misali Island	Leased Management Rights			5,337	Conservation		Misali Island Conservation Association
118	Tanzania	Mafia Island	Leased Management Rights			151,970	Monitoring	Turtle Conservation	Sea Sense
119	Indonesia	Gili Trawangan	Contract	Operational	Open ended	255	Fishing Restrictions	Coral Reefs	Gili Eco Trust
120	Malaysia	Sugud Islands	Lease	Operational	30 years	114,400	Protected Area Management	Coral Reefs	Reef Guardians
121 to 500	To Be Identified