Anna Lou Abatayo receives NWO XS grant to study marine protection in the Coral Triangle

EconSES is proud to congratulate Dr. Anna Lou Abatayo on receiving the NWO Open Competition SSH XS grant for her project, “Why Here? Drivers of Marine Protection in the Coral Triangle.”

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have become one of the world’s most important tools for conserving marine biodiversity. Yet despite their rapid expansion, surprisingly little is known about why protected areas are established in some locations but not others. Dr. Abatayo’s project seeks to answer this fundamental question by examining the factors that shape the placement of MPAs across the Coral Triangle, the world’s most biodiverse marine region.

Combining harmonized spatial datasets, economic indicators, and surveys of conservation practitioners, the project will investigate whether marine protected areas are systematically established where ecological value is highest, or whether political and economic considerations also play an important role. Rather than focusing on the impacts of protected areas, the research addresses an equally important but often overlooked question: how conservation policies are selected in the first place.

The NWO Open Competition SSH XS program supports bold, curiosity-driven ideas that have the potential to open new avenues of research. By enabling researchers to rapidly test innovative concepts, the program encourages scientific creativity and lays the groundwork for future breakthroughs.

For EconSES, the project aligns closely with its research on environmental governance, natural resource management, and biodiversity conservation. The findings are expected to provide new insights into how conservation priorities translate into spatial protection, helping policymakers design more effective and equitable marine conservation strategies.

Congratulations to Dr. Abatayo on this well-deserved recognition. We look forward to following the progress of this exciting research project and the new insights it will generate for conservation science and environmental policy.