Individual and village-level effects on community support for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Philippines

A crucial factor in the success of protected areas and conservation efforts in general is the support amongst the adjacent community. It is thought to be especially crucial for the success of small MPAs. Whilst the importance of community support has been highlighted in a number of studies, it has not yet been clearly defined or explicitly studied. Questionnaires were carried out (N=166) at three different villages within the Visayas region of the Philippines to determine individuals' support towards adjacent MPAs and individual characteristics that have previously been hypothesised to influence support. Multiple regressions analysis determined: (1) Which individual-level factors predict attitude towards MPAs, (2) whether attitudes of individuals are related to actions that benefit the adjacent MPA and (3) whether individual or community-level factors are better predictors of individual support for local community-based MPAs. Knowledge of MPA objectives, perceived participation in decision making, trust towards other fishers and differences between villages all significantly predicted attitudes towards MPAs. Weak relationships were found between attitudes and certain MPA related actions due to contextual factors. Village was not the only significant predictor of both attitudes and MPA related actions; individual characteristics irrespective of differences between villages, were also important in predicting support for the MPA. This study highlights the importance in distinguishing between attitudes and actions of individuals and suggests specific individual characteristics can be vital in influencing support towards MPAs. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.