One of the project’s aims is to “develop a model for

co-management and implement it using participatory principles and management effectiveness framework” [88]; however, few of their activities are focused at the community level. There was also a recent evaluation of the management effectiveness of Thailand’s NMPs with the goal of improving their management [89]. Yet the management effectiveness document is not publicly available, potentially undermining accountability, and additional concrete steps will need to be formulated and taken to address identified shortcomings. There are also ongoing attempts to address corruption within the NMPs on selleck products the Andaman coast and the agency overall [90] and [91]. Yet these current

initiatives are limited in scope, scale, and longevity and have the potential to be undermined by previous issues with governance and management, particularly corruption, lack of accountability and ineffective mechanisms for participation. Thailand has an extensive system of MPAs that is unlikely to achieve its conservation potential without significant improvements to governance and management and increased attention to local development. Enhanced NMP governance and management processes could build trust and ameliorate this website relationships with local communities and might lead to improved conservation outcomes through engendering support and compliance. However, improving conservation outcomes will require that the broader array of issues, and their root causes are taken into account and that management actions old are coordinated between agencies and across the Andaman coastal zone. Bettering socio-economic development processes and outcomes will also necessitate partnerships with organizations that are better equipped to address development issues. These

initiatives would oblige DNP governors and managers to cast a much broader net – to be amenable to coordinating with other governmental and non-governmental organizations and to including local communities more fully in NMP management and related initiatives. The results presented in this article are one aspect of the work of Project IMPAACT (http://projectimpaact.asia) – a project of the Marine Protected Areas Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada. Financial support for this project came from the Social Science and Human Research Council of Canada and the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project. The principal author is a Trudeau Scholar, a SSHRC Scholar, a Fellow of the Centre for Global Studies, and a Fellow of the Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction Project.