1. The Science Communityof Practice (SCOP) isaninternal WWF-USnetworkcomprisedof practicing
scientists,staff withscience backgrounds,orstaff interestedinengagingwithscience.The SCOPmeets
everyweek,andbringstogetherscientistsfromacross goal teamsto share ideas,collaborate,andwork
togethertocontribute toWWF's missionof conservationgroundedinscience.
At the final JulySCOPmeeting,GabbyAhmadia,LouiseGlew andJill Harrissharedtheirreflectionsfrom
the 13th International Coral ReefSymposiumaswell astheirrecentworkonMPA’s. Gabby beganthe
meetingwithapresentationonthe ecological impactsof MPA’sinthe Bird’sHeadSeascape in
Indonesia. She andherteamusedBefore-AfterControl Impact(BACI),aquasi-experimental design
approach,for impactevaluationandtoeliminatebiasinevaluation. BycomparingMPA’sto control
sites,theymeasure anydifferencesinoutcomesthatresultfromthe existence of anMPA.However,
there mightbe systematicbiasinhowMPAsare placed:whatif we put MPAs aroundall of the “best”
coral reefs?Maybe a coral reef improvesbecause itstartedoff asa healthiersite,andthe improvement
we measuredhasnothingtodo withthe MPA. To addressthisquestion,theyuse statistical matchingto
selectsuitable control sitesbasedonasuite of covariatesthatmightaffectMPA outcome,suchas
distance tomarkets,physical exposure,andtemperature. Then,theydetermine whichcontrol sites
shouldbe usedforcomparisonbasedontheirsimilaritytoMPA sites. Eliminatingbiasinthisway
providesmore accurate evaluationof MPA’s.Gabbyconcludedthatwe canunder- or over-estimate
MPA impactsusingconventionalmethodsandthatbaselinesare importantformonitoringthese
impacts.
Louise presentedonthe linksbetweenMPA’sandhumanwellbeing. Ecosystemservicesisthe current
mono-causal pathwayusedforviewingthe linkbetweenbiodiversityandhumanwellbeing,butLouise
arguedthat thisresultsinpartial conclusionsanddistortionwhenplanningMPA implementation
because of the limitedscope of observation. She thendemonstratedhow embracingmulti-causality
considersabroad range of pathways,bothsocial andecological,aswell asintendedandunintended
impactsof conservation. Againusingthe BACIdesignandstatistical matchinginthe Bird’sHead
Seascape,MPA and non-MPA householdswere comparedtodeterminethe degreeof impactof MPA’s
on humancommunities. A seriesof radardiagramsof the impactsof MPA’sshowedthe vastrange of
impactsin5 differenthumandomainsandthe variedsocial impactsovertwoyears. Louise andher
teamfoundthat social characteristicsmoderate conservationimpactsacrossdomains,andtherefore
contextaffectsimpactvariabilityandcreate complexity. Examplesinclude:
 Elite capture:the wealthysee amore positive impact
 Place attachment(house vs.home) decreasesemotional pull of fishermen
 Female-headedhouseholdsdobetterwithMPA’s
 Most commonlynosocial impact,but whenthere isimpact,MPA’sare justas likelytohelpor
hinder
Jill gave the final presentationonincorporatingglobal andlocal datato prioritize conservation
efforts. Withlimitedresources,maximizingmanagementimpactisachallenge. She arguedfor
minimizing,orputtinglessresourcestowards,unmanageable threatslike bleaching,andallocatingmore
resourcestowardlocationsthathave higherlevelsof manageable threatslike local humanimpacts. To
determine the manageabilityof threatsandprioritize locationsforconservationinIndonesia,herteam
mappedglobal climate projectionsandlocal anthropogenicthreat. Forexample,theylookedat
projectedannual severebleachingbasedonthe IPCCreportstodetermine reefsthatare more likelyto
persistinthe future climate. Tomaximize impact,reefsthatare mostlikelytopersistandthathave
higherresilience wouldbe targetedforconservationefforts. Dependingonthreattype andlevel,
individualMPA’sresponddifferentlytoavarietyof conservationstrategies,suchasreef restoration,

2. fisheriesmanagement,orspatial conservation.Bymappingthreatsandthe metricsof reef resilience,we
can identifythe threatlevel andwhataspectof resilience will respondtoitto prioritize conservation
strategiesforindividual MPA’s.
The recordingand presentationslidescanbe foundin M:Shared-AllSCOPWebExRecordings.