Bridging the Gap Between Legal Designation and Management Outcomes: Evidence from a Newly Established Marine Protected Area in Thailand

Abstract Marine protected areas (MPAs) conserve marine biodiversity, but their effectiveness depends on implementation. This study assessed the Racha Islands MPA, established in 2023 in a tourism-dependent coral-reef setting in Phuket, Thailand. Using the International Union for Conservation of Nature–World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA) management effectiveness framework, the study compiled evidence from May through October 2025, drawing on document analysis, available ecological monitoring information, stakeholder surveys and interviews and field observations and site verification. The 69 respondents comprised 50 local resource users and tourism-related stakeholders and 19 institutional respondents. Performance was evaluated across context, planning, inputs, process, outputs and outcomes. Overall effectiveness was 54.3%, indicating moderate performance. Context (73.3%) and outputs (66.7%) scored highest, reflecting the legal foundation and delivery of many planned activities. Inputs scored lowest (33.3%) owing to financial, human and technical limitations. Outcomes remained moderate (55.6%): most surveyed users perceived threats as broadly unchanged, ecological trends varied across sites and evidence of socio-economic change was limited. The MPA has progressed beyond legal designation, but institutional capacity remains limited and evidence of longer-term effects has not kept pace with management activities. Determining whether observed changes resulted from MPA management was constrained by the short period since establishment, the absence of a pre-designation socio-economic baseline, limited performance indicators and insufficient long-term monitoring. Priorities include predictable financing, adequate staffing and equipment, participatory development of a site-specific management plan and feasible outcome-oriented monitoring. This study provides an early-stage benchmark and lessons for MPA governance in tourism-dependent coastal regions.