Marine and coastal protected areas (MCPAs) are complex social-ecological systems. In recent decades,
stakeholder participation has been widely encouraged in MCPA design and management strategy to
enable these conservation projects to last over time and produce the expected results. This paper will
discuss stakeholder participation in three MCPAs in the south-western Gulf of California in Mexico: Cabo
Pulmo National Park, Loreto Bay National Park and Archipelago Espíritu Santo National Park. It will use a
qualitative approach (such as semi-structured interviews and observations) to analyze MCPA governance,
along with a literature review of specialized and official government documents. Three phases
will be studied: MCPA design, MCPA management plan creation and MCPA management board meetings.
Results suggest that in the early 2010s, these protected areas were assigned a mixture of governance
types: governance by government and shared governance. Certain actions show that park authorities,
largely supported by environmental non-governmental organizations, have attempted to improve MCPA
decision-making processes through a participative approach, but that there is unequal stakeholder
participation in such initiatives.