Localized management policies’ themes revolve around decentralization of authority to local governments and communities.

Governance

For management policies to be effective, national government must delegate jurisdiction to the local government and the latter must have the capability and desire to plan and carry out marine protected areas (MPA). The effectiveness of this approach has been seen in Indonesia and Philippines, where it is found that the most effective coral reef management occurs in the context of a community-based and local government managed MPAs.  These countries also have national MPAs, but it seems at the national level of management, success is more difficult to obtain. A case study on the effectiveness of conservation efforts in Indonesia is being discussed on this site as well, at Case Study.

MPAs also integrate strategies like implementation of best practices, like effective coastal law enforcement unites, periodic monitoring and education support programmes aimed at raising awareness and encouraging people to take action, and penalties for non-compliance.

It seems now that everywhere you go, no matter what cause, education is one pivotal point of all conservation groups and policies. Education is also one of the major focuses of MPAs, but for it to be more effective, it must be driven by actual experience rather than theories or ideas that will not be easily understood by people who are expected to change their behaviors. After all, you can expect someone to change without understand the need for them to, right? Thus it is important to incorporate the local communities aspects into policies, especially those coastal communities whose livelihoods depends on the fragile reefs.

Regulatory

There are many regulatory policies, yet few are successful to achieve their desired result probably due to lack of required education and consensus building with the communities to help secure compliance. Regulatory polices almost always limited access and use ti the resource (coral reefs) to some extent, but in order for these policies to be effective it is very important that they are accepted by the locals, who are also stakeholders in the reef systems. The typical regulatory policies would include bans on unsustainable methods of fishing and restrictions on destructive fishing gear, restricted access and use for fishers and visitors, catch quotas, size limits and seasons for fishing

Economic

Economic aspects of policies involved economic incentives and disincentives. These are valuable in making MPAs effective and are also attract to fishers and tourists, both who are important players in coral reef management. Economic incentives must have a work in such a way that they have a direct reinforcement effect on conservation practices via the local resource users. The connection between the economic incentive and the behaviour of the resource user that is targeted for changing must be clear.

Additionally, sustainable tourism is often a strong economic incentive for protecting coral reefs. To enable sustainability, boats permits can be given out to control flow of people in a limited access area of the MPA,  or entry fees can be implemented to reinforce good behaviour by instilling value in the coral reefs sites. The entry fees are also a source of revenue and can be used for further coral reefs conservation programmes.

Economic disincentives like fines, can be beneficial too, if they are implemented consistently via law enforced or community-based management regimes. The key here is consistency. An example is in Philippines, where increasing numbers of local governments are implementing and collecting fines for illegal fishing.