**6. Conclusion**

Our comparative analysis based on thirteen differentiated case studies brings to light recurrences for protection levels and the conditions of the effectiveness of the conservation policies embodied by MPAs as well as the way in which they make use of (or do not) the regulations associated with their implementation. These findings run counter to the received ideas that form the basis for political discourse and decisions and some scientific studies according to which: (a). A classified area is protected … and can therefore be recorded as such; (b). The entire classified perimeter enjoys protection; (c). Protection relies upon regulations drawn up with the aim of being enforced. When countries pledge to increasing the surface area of their waters classified as MPAs, they consider that the MPA status is a guarantee of protection and that it will provide classified perimeter-wide protection – two ideas that are called into question by this analysis. In light of this, considering two levels of protection, active and passive, gives us a clearer idea of both the reality of the protection measures and the extent of the efforts made by each country. Even so, however, quantitative objectives should not relegate qualitative ones to the background. Furthermore, it would be worth examining the role that regulatory plays in an MPA's effectiveness and efficiency. This is what we attempted to do by illustrating that firstly, an MPA can act efficiently to limit the impact of uses without necessarily having specific regulations at its disposal, and then that regulations are used in relations with stakeholders more than merely as instruments to exercise authority: when used to serve this relationship, they can prove to be more useful than when they are used to confront actors whose contributions are crucial to the MPA's effectiveness.

More generally, the findings of our analysis are an encouragement to examine more closely the way in which MPAs work and the conditions of their effectiveness. The three simple ideas challenged here are all illusions that lead to confusion, particularly for decision-makers who congratulate themselves for reaching quantitative objectives for creating MPAs without paying sufficient attention to the means they need to devote for their effective management and the success of their institutionalisation. What's more, these illusions mask the reality of MPAs: if the MPA status does not guarantee the protection of the perimeter under consideration, nor even its institutionalisation, and if the regulations associated with the conservation policies embodied by an MPA are not necessarily devised to be enforced, what exactly is an MPA? It is a local public policy that is constantly under construction (to be considered as a process rather than a state), marked by a dual level of action (active protection and passive protection), mobilising regulations that are first and foremost a medium for dialogue and negotiation.

*Measuring Marine Protected Areas' Conservation Effort: A Different Look at Three… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98933*
