| Summary: | Climate change is likely to alter the physical and chemical properties of the ocean within the next century, having long-term and perhaps irreversible effects on the marine ecosystems upon which coastal communities are reliant for sustenance and livelihood. Extensive reef development within the Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area (SIOBMPA) off the coast of Carriacou, Grenada, provides neighboring communities with important ecosystem goods and services which are threatened by warming sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification and sea level rise. Building the capacity to cope, adapt and transform in response to climate change is thus imperative to the long-term welfare of the SIOBMPA and associated stakeholder community. This study provides an assessment of the current resilience of the SIOBMPA to climate change from the social-ecological system (SES) perspective. Through the understanding of the resilience of each individual subsystem (i.e. ecological and social), the interactions that exist between the two and the current and future impacts that will influence these interactions, this study identifies system components that may contribute to building or diminishing the resilience of the SIOBMPA SES. Findings suggest that functional group diversity and low anthropogenic influence in ecological systems enhance coping capacity when faced with long-term climate driven impacts, while the social system’s ability to build institutions that foster communication, trust and social learning and the effective use of available capital promote adaptation and transformation. Based on the results yielded from this analysis, recommendations for marine management measures that promote SES resilience are provided.
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