The participatory engagement of stakeholders is perhaps the most important component of the planning and development of an MPA. Meaningful engagement depends on the ability of practitioners to build a healthy, lasting, and trustful relationship with stakeholders, including local communities. The approaches described in this guidebook are intended to help practitioners navigate this process of stakeholder engagement.

Old Woman Creek, on the south-central shore of Lake Erie, is one of Ohio’s few remaining examples of a natural estuary and is designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and a Ohio State Nature Preserve. It is the only Great Lakes freshwater estuary in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System and is managed cooperatively by NOAA and the ODNR.

Pipe Creek is a small tributary to Sandusky Bay on the south-central shore of Lake Erie. The Pipe Creek watershed is largely developed by a combination of urban and agricultural land uses. Pipe Creek is best known for its 97 acre State Wildlife Area located at the mouth of Pipe Creek, which was constructed in the early 1990s as a mitigation site for wetlands destroyed by development elsewhere.

The natural geomorphological processes on Assateague Island, a Mid-Atlantic barrier island, are being exacerbated by increased storm intensity and sea-level rise, impacting the habitats and wildlife. The National Park Service Assateague Island National Seashore management is taking steps to ensure the sustainability of the park and the visitor experience.

As global temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, some organisms may thrive on Assateague Island while others may be replaced by more tolerant species. As storms intensify, the rate at which this Mid-Atlantic barrier island will experience overwash and rollover will increase. Ultimately, very different landscapes may change the access and experience that visitors enjoy today at Assateague Island National Seashore.

This report card was developed to help lead private citizens, government, and businesses toward a healthy Baltimore Harbor, which is swimmable and fishable by 2020. The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, and Blue Water Baltimore, published this Healthy Harbor Report Card to help work toward clean, safe, and accessible streams and Harbor for everyone.

Report cards can be part of a tiered approach to communicating results with varying technical detail. Our vision for this report card framework is based on goals identified in America’s Great Watershed Initiative and derived from principles of Integrated River Basin Management. The framework includes balanced information from Social, Economic, and Environmental sectors, and is intended to be transparent and clear.

The burden of global, regional, and project reporting has been a longstanding concern of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), particularly on Smaller Island States (SIS). This newsletter uses an environmental case study to showcase how a simple, targeted, and strategic monitoring and reporting framework can facilitate streamlined reporting by allowing data and information to be used for multiple reporting requirements.

This book summarizes information on the south Florida marine ecosystem in a manner that is easy to read and understand. The book covers physical and biological oceanography, ecology, human impacts, and climate change. This book is unique in that it consists of fact pages that were prepared by 162 experts in their scientific disciplines. Filled with rich graphics and photos, it is appropriate for students, educators, scientists, and stakeholders.

This document is the initial stage of assessment for Samoa's State of the Environment. Samoa's rich cultural heritage and future prosperity depends on a healthy environment. Over the past 50 years, Samoa's environment has been pressured by increasing population and development, agricultural expansion, invasive species of plants and animals, and disasters such as tsunamis, cyclones, and fires.