California’s MPAs are adaptively managed as a network through the MPA Management Program which consists of four focal areas: 1) outreach and education, 2) enforcement and compliance, 3) research and monitoring, and 4) policy and permitting. Within the research and monitoring focal area, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) collaboratively direct California’s MPA Monitoring Program which includes a two-phased, ecosystem-based approach. Regional baseline monitoring (Phase 1, 2007 – 2018) characterized ecological and socioeconomic conditions near the time of regional MPA implementation and improved our understanding of a variety of representative marine habitats and the associated biodiversity. CDFW and OPC are now designing and implementing statewide long-term monitoring (Phase 2, 2016 – present) to reflect current priorities and management needs.

The MPA Monitoring Action Plan (Action Plan) informs next steps for long-term MPA monitoring in California by aggregating and synthesizing work to date, as well as by incorporating novel, quantitative, and expert-informed approaches. The Action Plan prioritizes key measures, metrics, habitats, sites, species, human uses, and management questions to target for long-term monitoring to inform the evaluation of California’s MPA Network. For example, the Action Plan includes select species-level, community-level, physical, chemical, and human use measures and metrics identified to advance understanding of conditions and trends across the MPA Network.