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

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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.

Maite den Butter Wins Best Master's Thesis in Economics

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations to Maite den Butter for winning the Dutch REMagine Awards for the best master’s thesis in economics and business under the category “Broad Perspectives on Prosperity”.

Maite den Butter, a graduate of the MSc Economics of Sustainability (MME-D) program at Wageningen University, received the REMagine Award for her thesis examining the effects of Marine Protected Area (MPA) establishment on the well-being of coastal communities in Indonesia. While much of the existing literature focuses on the ecological benefits of MPAs, her research explores their broader social and economic impacts. In particular, the study investigates how conservation policies can shape livelihoods and welfare outcomes for people living near protected marine ecosystems.

Using household survey data and empirical analysis, Maite examined how communities living near long-established MPAs in Papua and West Papua experience changes in well-being following conservation interventions. Her research highlights how marine conservation policies can influence livelihoods, local economic opportunities, and overall community welfare. The findings contribute to a growing body of work that seeks to better understand the human dimensions of marine conservation.

The thesis was supervised by Anna Lou Abatayo and Andries Richter at Wageningen University. The study contributes to ongoing research at the group on marine systems, conservation policy, and the social-ecological dynamics of resource management. By examining both environmental and social outcomes, the work illustrates the importance of integrating economic and behavioral perspectives into marine conservation research.

We warmly congratulate Maite on this well-deserved recognition. Her achievement reflects the high quality of student research within the university. We look forward to seeing how her work continues to contribute to research on sustainable ocean governance and marine conservation.

More information is available at REMagine Award.

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

Maite den Butter Wins Best Master's Thesis in Economics