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The World Heritage Convention is one of the five global multilateral environmental agreements (the others being the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and the Convention on Migratory Species). The World Heritage Convention focuses on conservation of outstanding natural and cultural heritage by recognizing the world's best heritage areas on the World Heritage List, as well as by encouraging heritage conservation at the national level. Only States Parties on the Convention can nominate sites to the World Heritage List. Natural sites normally need to be National Parks or otherwise legally- protected and managed areas. The concept of customary or traditional management is also starting to gain acceptance with the Convention as a recognized protection mechanism.

This guidebook offers managers and other conservation practitioners1 a process and methods to evaluate the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) for the purposes of adaptive management. The evaluation is based on indicators that measure the effectiveness of management actions in attaining goals and objectives that are specific to MPAs, the marine environment and coastal communities. It presents a flexible approach that can be used in many types of MPAs, such as multiple-use areas or no-take zones, where each may have different goals and objectives. It offers a variety of indicators that reflect a diversity of MPA goals and objectives. These can be selected to best match your MPA based on the needs and resources of your site.