A sound technical understanding of biodiversity and ecosystems is the foundation that underpins effective protected area management. "Silo effect"--separating responsibility for terrestrial and marine management on small islands?makes finding workable solutions to shared problems more difficult. A strong sense of community ownership, and recognition by communities that natural resources are their heritage (and realization that their livelihoods are closely tied to sustainable resource use) can contribute to a strong conservation ethic; even in systems that historically have applied a ?top-down? management approach (such as Malaysia?s), community-level support and cooperation are needed to curb adverse environmental impacts that could weaken conservation initiatives. Creation of viable alternative livelihood opportunities can benefit marine biodiversity conservation efforts by (1) directly moving people away from destructive extractive fisheries practices, into services industries, and (2) fostering greater community cooperation, understanding and participation in conservation efforts. Complicated project design, without clear indicators, makes implementation and monitoring and evaluation more difficult. Effective marine conservation within protected areas requires detailed studies of the resources in the area, and tailoring of zonation plans to fit the specific needs for the location, backed up by appropriate legislation and regulations. Effective marine conservation within protected areas requires detailed studies of the resources in the area, and tailoring of zonation plans to fit the specific needs for the location, backed up by appropriate legislation and regulations. Frequent changes in key personnel (whether in project staff, executing agency, or steering committees) makes project operations inefficient and can cause lack of continuity and considerable delays. In the absence of hard scientific data, local ecosystem knowledge (LEK) is an adaptive approach that can provide valuable information upon which preliminary planning can be based. However, the LEK information needs to be further ground-truthed and verified for more critical management decision-making. Strong interagency cooperation can greatly enhance project efficiency and result in cost savings.