ISO 14001: Towards international quality environmental management standards for marine protected areas

This paper addresses the current lack of internationally recognized standards for quality management practices in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The application of the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems to MPAs can provide a flexible and adaptive management system that can be integrated with existing MPA management practices as a standardized quality management process designed for the continuous improvement of MPA management. The paper provides a framework for applying ISO 14001 to MPAs and discusses the results of a practical case study in northern Chile wherein ISO 14001 was used as a benchmark for evaluating and improving the proposed management plan for a Chilean marine reserve.