Abstract
In the Mediterranean, a biodiversity Hotspot, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were introduced in the 1960s to protect biodiversity for ethical, cultural and functional reasons, as biodiversity contributes to the well-being. Today the AMP implementation is part of a formalized institutional environment at various levels: national, Mediterranean, European, and global with the Convention on Biological Diversity. In this promising context of environmental governance, protection cover by AMP yet remains below the commitments of riparian countries in the various governance bodies mentioned. Few resources are expanded and many MPAs are likely to be low effective. Given this disappointing finding the managers of Mediterranean MPA and their partners are gathering to strengthen efforts against the degradation of our common good that is marine and coastal biodiversity. The objective of this thesis is to contribute to this effort by enlightening elements favorable to the effectiveness and efficiency of MPAs.MPAs are intended to protect biodiversity and therefore establish rules related to the use of marine and coastal biodiversity and implement specific activities within their clearly defined space. This causes both constraints and opportunities for the sustainable development path especially that of territory environmentally and socio-economically connected to the MPA. This thesis aims to show that MPAs are institutional arrangements that are part of a social-ecological system. In this context, besides the mechanisms of ecosystem resilience, MPAs ability to generate benefits for the sustainable development of territories is based on the one hand on the ability of stakeholders to adapt to the change of rules, address the constraints and seize opportunities, and, on the other hand, on the ability of MPAs to rely on dense social networks to encourage behavior compliance and thus MPA’s effectiveness.The first part adopts an institutional approach that enables to consider MPAs in their socio-ecological system. It opens with the first chapter that defines the role attributed to AMP through the elaboration of this tool since the early twentieth century building on the construction at different levels nested of framework notions such as biodiversity, development sustainability and governance of the marine environment. The second chapter, looks over the current situation of MPAs in the Mediterranean in regard to their objectives of effectiveness and efficiency. A typology of Mediterranean MPAs is proposed to help the definition of differentiated strategies so as to strengthen existing and future MPAs in the basin. The third chapter, which ends the first part, analyzes the MPAs as institutional arrangements that enlighten on the one hand the nature of the effects and stakes related to the establishment of MPAs, and on the other hand, discusses the empirical forms of key success factors to facilitate MPAs.The second part, focusing on the integration of MPAs into the sustainable development of territories, opens with the fourth chapter which analyzes the formation of the benefits and costs generated by the Mediterranean MPAs on natural capital, human capital and social capital (and indirectly on physical capital) available in the territory. The last chapter shows that socio-economic assessment of the effects of MPAs can help strengthen MPAs, by going beyond the limits of economic valuation of particular benefits related to ecosystem services; and implementing complementary assessment methods and processes helping stakeholder engagement towards AMP.