The California Marine Life Protection Act: A balance of top down and bottom up governance in MPA planning

California recently established a state-wide MPA network that extends over 1900 km of coastline and includes 124 MPAs totaling nearly 2200 km². Designing and implementing such an MPA network in a populous democratic state with a large number of ocean users required a balance of top-down and bottom-up governance strategies. A legal mandate for MPAs identified the goals for the network and stipulated that scientific knowledge should form the basis of MPA design, while political necessity led to a participatory stakeholder-driven MPA design process. At the time of publication, the oldest region of the network was just five years old, so it remains to be seen how the governance strategies employed in MPA planning will evolve to meet the challenges of long-term MPA management.

► A balance of top down and bottom up governance supports successful MPA planning.
► A strong legal mandate formed the basis for MPA planning in California.
► Scientific guidelines directed MPA design to achieve conservation goals.
► Stakeholder participation in MPA planning enhanced acceptance of the MPAs.