The Marine Mammals Management Toolkit, developed under the EU-funded Ocean Governance project, supported by Francis, Tom and project partners is now coordinated by Blue Pangolin Consulting, has been published in Marine Policy, recognising its contribution to improving the effectiveness of management plans for Area-based Management Tools (ABMT).
The article, titled “Effectively managing area-based management tools: A new toolkit for the conservation of marine mammals”, underscores the Toolkit’s relevance for managers seeking to strengthen protection within marine protected areas and other spatial planning frameworks.
The Toolkit provides a structured approach to understanding and improving management practices in ABMTs for effective marine mammal conservation. At the heart of the Toolkit is the Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) — a practical mechanism enabling site managers to assess existing strategies, identify strengths and gaps, and improve the design and delivery of conservation measures.
To support the implementation of the Toolkit, Francis and Tom developed an Online Tutorial component which aims to build capacity of MPA managers, practitioners and Toolkit users, supporting its use and showcasing the many benefits of the Toolkit and its complimentary components.
The Marine Policy paper, co-authored by Blue Pangolin’s Tom Dallison, Francis Staub and collaborators, offers insight into the Toolkit’s utility, drawing on its application across 24 ABMTs in 18 countries. While individual site results are not presented in the paper, two case studies from critical partners were featured:
- In the Bermuda Marine Mammal Sanctuary, the SAT aided the development of management plans, which highlighted the need for more proactive planning in response to emerging activities such as aquaculture and offshore renewable energy, and their potential impacts on marine mammals.
- At the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in the United States, the SAT was used to establish a baseline of management effectiveness, against which site-specific action plans and performance measures could be tracked over time, ultimately enabling the revision, and further development of the Sanctuary’s management plans.
Together, these examples demonstrate how the Toolkit can equip site managers with an adaptive and tailored approach to decision-making — one that strengthens marine mammal outcomes and reinforces conservation effectiveness more broadly.
Maintaining the Toolkit’s legacy
While the Toolkit continues to be accessed via its original home at www.marine-mammals.info, Blue Pangolin Consulting now serves as its coordinator, ensuring its continued use, relevance, and legacy.
As such, Blue Pangolin maintains the Toolkit’s visibility, promotes capacity-building with site managers and regional networks, and encourages the integration of Toolkit outcomes into national and regional marine planning, alongside the provision of technical support to partners and managers using the SAT. Moreover, the continued support to the Toolkit underscores Blue Pangolin’s efforts within international policy, with the Toolkit enabling governments to contribute directly to targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (i.e., Targets 1, 3, 4 and 21).
Blue Pangolin’s coordination of the Marine Mammals Management Toolkit reflects our broader commitment to advancing applied tools and knowledge that help practitioners meet national and global conservation goals – underpinned by our broader expertise with respect to management effectiveness. The Toolkit also complements other Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) methodologies, providing a marine mammal-specific lens that enhances the quality and accountability of ABMT planning and delivery.
Access the publication in Marine Policy here, or download the pre-print.
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Cite the publication:
Dallison, T. et al. (2025) ‘Effectively managing area-based management tools: A new toolkit for the conservation of marine mammals’, Marine Policy, 172, p. 106492. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106492.
