Table 1. Summary of ten things to get right for marine conservation planning to effectively inform management actions in the Coral Triangle.

Each of these topics is discussed further in the text.

Issue	Explanation	Key challenges	Suggested actions
1.  Making      conservation      planning accessible	To be broadly applied, conservation      planning needs to be accessible to a      wider range of practitioners working in      the region, including government      agencies at levels from local to national	Increasing the exposure of those      responsible for spatial planning      and resource management to      concepts and methods in      conservation planning Dispelling misconceptions about      conservation planning Demonstrating the benefits of      planning, and costs of not      planning	Develop locally-appropriate tools and      approaches (i.e. that are not resource-      intensive or software-dependent) Translate technical documents and case      studies into local languages Document contextually-relevant case      studies
2.  Integrating      conservation      planning with other      planning processes	Conservation plans must better integrate      with the broader suite of marine spatial      planning processes. This will avoid      conservation being marginalised,      conflicting unnecessarily with often more      influential commercial decisions, and      imposing avoidably on resource users      with little financial or political power	Identifying how to interface with,      and inject a conservation      perspective into, other      planning processes Explicitly identifying and      reconciling trade-offs between      objectives for conservation,      commercial interests, and      livelihoods	Improve integration within and between      organisations responsible for aspects      of marine spatial planning Reformat or refocus planning outputs to      increase relevance to day-to-day      decision making by diverse sectors Embed analysis of trade-offs within high-      level decision making
3.  Building local      capacity for      conservation      planning	In-country capacity for conservation      planning is essential for local ownership      and long-term implementation of      conservation plans	Fostering the broad skills-base      required by conservation      planners Broadening the base of in-country technical experts	Develop conservation planning short-      courses and university curricula Develop qualifications and competency      standards that recognise marine      conservation planning as a profession
4.  Institutionalising      conservation      planning within      governments	Conservation planning must be established      as a norm within government to avoid      spatially restricted applications      associated with project-based models,      and to ensure that support for plans is      sustained in the long-term	Diverse governance arrangements      require context-specific      approaches to      institutionalisation Governmental reform typically      requires long time-frames	Review the current legislative and      institutional environment at different      levels of government, to identify      appropriate entry points
5.  Integrating plans      across governance      levels	Conservation plans must be carefully      integrated across spatial scales and levels      of governance to avoid plans and policies      at different levels that conflict, or are      difficult to interpret or enforce	Overlapping legislation      and unclear jurisdictions, often with      multiple implementing      government agencies and      customary authorities at      different levels Scale-dependence, whereby      management initiatives depend      on actions taken at higher or      lower jurisdictional levels	Legal reform to ensure that plans consider      existing laws and regulations at      different scales Further develop the capacity of the Coral      Triangle Atlas to track the contribution      of local actions towards wider      objectives
6.  Planning across      governance      boundaries	Where management is decentralised,      transboundary coordination will be      necessary to avoid social-ecological scale      mismatches, where the spatial extent of      ecological processes exceeds that of      management jurisdictions	Resolving inequitable distribution      of conservation costs      and benefits Aligning multiple, sometimes      divergent, objectives within      different governance units	Support efforts to develop local      governance networks Explore innovative ways to overcome      equity issues, e.g. payments for      transboundary ecosystem services
7.  Planning for      multiple tools and      objectives	Conservation planners have become      proficient at designing networks of fully      protected areas, but a wider range of      locally relevant tools and approaches that      can also achieve conservation goals      should be considered	Cross-sectoral integration of goals      related to biodiversity, fisheries      and food security Better understanding the      contribution of different      management actions towards      different objectives	Document case studies where      conservation plans incorporate      multiple zones or management tools Review the effectiveness of different      management tools at ameliorating      context-specific threats and achieving      objectives
8.  Understanding      imitations of data	Whilst data limitations are unavoidable,      conservation decisions can be made more      effectively where the shortcomings of      data can be understood or avoided	Non-nestedness of biodiversity      priorities Discordance between the      resolution at which      conservation priorities are      identified and at which they are      useful to inform management	Modify collection of census data to include      socio-economic metrics relevant to      resource management Capitalise upon improved quality and      availability of habitat data derived      from remote-sensing Recognise that conservation plans will      require updating as better data      become available
9.  Developing better      measures of      progress and      effectiveness	Common measures of progress focus on      outputs rather than outcomes, risking      “residual” conservation actions that fail      to achieve meaningful progress towards      objectives	Changing the norm whereby      extent of protected areas is      equated, often mistakenly, with      conservation progress	Conduct applied research to adapt and      extend existing methods for evaluation      of conservation impact to the Coral      Triangle Ensure that established monitoring and      evaluation programs produce data that      can be used to assess impacts of      conservation interventions
10.  Making a long-term       commitment	The long-term commitment required for      effective conservation planning is under-      appreciated: conservation planning must      be conceived, and adequately funded, as a      complete planning – implementation      package	Overcoming mismatches between      short-term funding and      political cycles and long-term      needs for planning and      implementation	Shift from project-based conservation      towards institutionalised processes      and funding allocations for      conservation planning Planning teams must learn to work more      effectively within short-term funding      cycles Donors must understand that      conservation needs long-term funding,      or more modest short-term objectives