Description:
<jats:p>Ecuador belongs to the group of 17 megadiverse countries on the planet, and the Ecuadorian national system of protected areas covers around 20% of the country’s territory. Despite some initiatives for protected areas management effectiveness evaluation, the information on this matter is scarce and a general overview is missing. In this context, this study aims at investigating problems faced by National Parks in Ecuador and developing a base level management effectiveness evaluation for possible comparative assessments in the future. Focusing on all 12 legally established National Parks, this study used the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT), an internationally consecrated methodology based on a scorecard questionnaire that includes six elements of management cycle: context, planning, inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes. The questionnaire was applied to Ecuadorian National Parks management teams through face-to-face interviews. The resulted overall management effectiveness indices are between 40.6% and 99.0%. The general condition of biodiversity value was considered as good in line with the legal status and National Parks design but topics related to budget allocation, tourism arrangements, communities and indigenous people received lower scores. The low enforcement emphasis is not necessarily the best way to improve management effectiveness; the identified issues should be addressed by including communities and indigenous people in the decision making and benefits sharing as well as strategic allocation of budgetary resources, with proper adaptation to Natural Parks’ specific conditions.</jats:p>