About WWF
WWF’s mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth. Our vision is to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.
For more than 50 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by more than 1.2 million members in the United States and 5 million supporters globally. WWF’s unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.
Our work in Bird’s Head Seascape
In the Bird’s Head Seascape, WWF is working with partners to understand the true impacts of marine protected areas (MPAs). Although MPAs are designed to protect natural resources and provide benefits to both biodiversity and local communities, such benefits are often contested and the variation in results has not been adequately explained. Decision-makers need such information in order to design and manage MPAs effectively.
To this end, WWF is part of an interdisciplinary research initiative to examine how MPA governance shapes the behavior of local fishers and the condition of the marine environment. In collaboration the University of Papua (UNIPA) and others, we are monitoring changes in household well-being over time, as well as the underlying attributes of MPA governance likely to shape these social impacts. Ecological impact monitoring currently focuses on collecting baseline reef health data in non-MPA sites, which serves as a comparison with MPA sites. We are also working on designing a long-term monitoring plan that will provide a basis for adaptive MPA management.
To learn more about our work to ensure oceans remain healthy please visit worldwildlife.org/habitats/oceans.
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