Evaluating governance: A process for understanding how co-management is functioning, and why, in the Galapagos Marine Reserve

The innovative Galapagos Marine Reserve co-management regime has been operating since 1999. International developments call for ways to help managers evaluate governance process and impact. New methodology is applied to the rich store of quantitative and qualitative data that is already available, and shows the richness of analysis and understanding that can be derived. The results of this analysis help explain why the co-management regime performs strongly in terms of strategic vision, participation, empowerment, consensus orientation and resilience and yet less well in terms of responsible representation, equity and credibility.