CoCoSort: a multiple criteria sorting method for managing the protection of marine resources

Jason Tuang-tuang (), Samantha Shane Evangelista (), Eliza Espinosa () and Lanndon Ocampo ()
Additional contact information
Jason Tuang-tuang: Palompon Institute of Technology
Samantha Shane Evangelista: Cebu Technological University
Eliza Espinosa: Visayas State University
Lanndon Ocampo: Cebu Technological University

Environment Systems and Decisions, 2025, vol. 45, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Abstract Decentralized management of marine resources by local governments yields an enhanced opportunity to protect, restore, and create sustainable marine biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services. However, due to the complexities associated with designing a level of protection for a specific marine resource, local stakeholders may find the process challenging, which may have adverse effects resulting from delayed conservation initiatives. Thus, under various criteria, a systematic approach that assigns a level of protection to marine resources is critical in managing these resources. Despite this criticality, such an agenda gains limited attention from the domain literature. This work advances this gap by proposing a multiple criteria sorting (MCS) method that comprehensively assigns marine resources to a pre-defined set of protection categories under the evaluation of several criteria. It utilizes (1) the entropy method in obtaining the priority weights of the identified criteria associated with evaluating the reef status of marine sites and (2) an extension of the combined compromise solution sorting method, termed CoCoSort, in evaluating marine sites to a pre-determined set of categories (i.e., Category 1, Category 2, Category 3), arranged in increasing order of protection. With the available indicators in the literature, the proposed CoCoSort was implemented in an actual case study of eight marine sites in an eastern Philippine municipality. Findings reveal that feather stars density, giant clams density, and butterfly abundance comprise the top priority criteria in evaluating the case sites. On the other hand, five identified sites are found to be under the maximum protection category, while three sites should be given moderate protection. Both sensitivity and comparative analyses show the efficacy of the proposed CoCoSort. The insights would help local governments manage the biodiversity protection of their marine environments.

Keywords: Marine protection; Conservation; Multiple criteria sorting; Combined compromise solution sorting; Entropy method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-024-09992-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:45:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10669-024-09992-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/10669

DOI: 10.1007/s10669-024-09992-9

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment Systems and Decisions from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().