Social equity considerations and management trade-offs in the Iroise Marine Natural Park in France
Webinar Blue Justice #14 – December 19 2025, 11h AM (France)
With Pierre Scemama, Ifremer, UMR AMURE
Social equity considerations and management trade-offs in the Iroise Marine Natural Park in France
Abstract: “As global commitments to marine conservation intensify under the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, there is increasing recognition that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) must deliver both ecological benefits and social equity. This study examines how equity dimensions are integrated into the governance of the Marine Nature Park of Iroise (MNPI), one of France’s largest multi-use MPAs. It applies the Ocean Equity Framework—which includes Recognitional, Procedural, Distributional, Environmental, Management, and Contextual dimensions of equity— and mobilizes data from the institutional reporting of the MNPI and stakeholders’ perceptions captured using Q-methodology. Following institutional reporting, the MNPI appears to be strongly focused on the Management and Environment dimensions of equity with most of its action being associated to knowledge acquisition and dissemination and concerning professional fishing or the environment. In this perspective, the Ocean Equity Framework allows for a more integrative assessment of the complex trade-offs faced by the MNPI operators. Analysis of the Q-methodology’s results identifies five trade-offs under budget constraints (i) between the production of scientific knowledge and its integration and alignment with local needs, (ii) between categories of ecosystem services or conservation rationales, (iii) between biodiversity conservation and economic development, (iv) between competing sectors interests and (v) between top-down and bottom-up dynamics. This research contributes to growing efforts to mainstream equity in marine conservation and offers practical insights for fostering more inclusive and socially grounded MPA governance..”
Pierre Scemama works as a researcher at Ifremer (French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea) in AMURE (Brest, France), an interdisciplinary research unit developing research in economics, law and anthropology applied to the management of marine activities and ecosystems. His research focuses on the economics of biodiversity conservation. Among other subjects, he has been working on exploring various aspects of marine protected areas effectiveness through equity considerations, cost-effectiveness approaches or ecosystem services assessments.”
About the Blue Justice Webinar : https://www.umr-amure.fr/recherche/axe-b/#webinar-blue-justice
