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

Authors:
Jason Tuang-tuang
Jason Tuang-tuang
Samantha Shane Evangelista
Samantha Shane Evangelista
Samantha Shane Evangelista
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Eliza Espinosa
Eliza Espinosa
Eliza Espinosa
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Lanndon Ocampo at Cebu Technological University
Lanndon Ocampo
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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.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Environment Systems and Decisions (2025) 45:1
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-024-09992-9
CoCoSort: amultiple criteria sorting method formanaging
theprotection ofmarine resources
JasonTuang‑tuang1,2 · SamanthaShaneEvangelista3 · ElizaEspinosa4· LanndonOcampo3,5
Accepted: 13 October 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
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
* Lanndon Ocampo
lanndonocampo@gmail.com
Jason Tuang-tuang
jasontuangtuang@gmail.com
Samantha Shane Evangelista
sammievangelista@gmail.com
Eliza Espinosa
eliza.espinosa@vsu.edu.ph
1 Research Services Office, Palompon Institute ofTechnology,
Evangelista St., 6538Palompon, Leyte, Philippines
2 Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, Instituto
Politécnico Nacional 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur,
23096LaPaz, BajaCaliforniaSur, Mexico
3 Center forApplied Mathematics andOperations Research,
Cebu Technological University, Corner M. J. Cuenco Ave. &
Palma St., 6000CebuCity, Philippines
4 Institute ofTropical Ecology andEnvironmental
Management, Visayas State University, Visca,
6521-ABaybayCity, Leyte, Philippines
5 Centre forOperational Research andLogistics, University
ofPortsmouth, Portland Building, Portland Street,
PortsmouthPO13AH, UK
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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